Federal Inland Revenue Service
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) is the agency responsible for assessing, collecting and accounting for tax and other revenues accruing to the
Federal Government of Nigeria The federal government of Nigeria is composed of three distinct branches: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial, whose powers are vested and bestowed upon by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. One of the primary f ...
.


History

Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) was created in 1943. Prior to that time, its functions had been performed by the Inland Revenue Department of
British West Africa British West Africa was the collective name for British settlements in West Africa during the colonial period, either in the general geographical sense or the formal colonial administrative entity. British West Africa as a colonial entity was ...
. The Board of Inland Revenue was created in 1958, and the service gained autonomy with the passing of the FIRS (Establishment) Act 13 of 2007. In 2003, the Federal Government of Nigeria recognized that poor service delivery in the public sector had become an urgent national issue and undertook a series of steps that lead to the entering into a Service Compact ( SERVICOM) with all Nigerians in March 2004. This was followed by the creation of the SERVICOM office within the Presidency to ensure the entrenchment of excellent service delivery in the public sector in policy, programmes and practice. In line with the subsequent Presidential Mandate, the FIRS created a unit in 2014 to institutionalize Service Delivery within the Service. This unit has undergone various transformations to meet the tempo of ever-changing FIRS organizational reforms and the needs of taxpaying public and stakeholders. In 2011 FIRS created a Taxpayer Service Department (TPSD) for enhanced focus on taxpayers as well as National Taxpayer Advocate position (in 2012) to ensure effective high-level advocacy for taxpayers.


Leadership

Organisational structure/Board According to the FIRS ACT, the organisational structure of FIRS consists of: *Executive Chairman *Nine members with relevant qualifications and expertise appointed by the President to represent each of the 9 geo-political zones *A representative of the Attorney-General of the Federation *The Governor of the
Central Bank of Nigeria The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is the central bank and apex monetary authority of Nigeria established by the CBN Act of 1958 and commenced operations on 1 July 1959. The major regulatory objectives of the bank as stated in the CBN Act are t ...
or his representative *A representative of the Minister of Finance not below the rank of a Director *The Chairman of the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission *The Group Managing Director of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited is a state-owned oil company in Nigeria. Still a fully-owned government company, it was transformed from a corporation into a limited liability company in July 2022. NNPC Limited is the on ...
*The Comptroller-General of the
Nigeria Customs Service The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is an agency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which operates as an independent customs service under the supervisory oversight of the Nigerian Ministry of Finance, responsible for the collection of customs ...
or his representative not below the rank of Deputy Comptroller-General; *The Registrar-General of the Corporate Affairs Commission or his representative *The Chief Executive Officer of the National Planning Commission or his representative President
Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2015 to 2023. A retired Nigerian army major general, he was the military head of state of Nigeria from 31 December 1983 to 27 Augu ...
appointed Muhammad Mamman Nami as the new Executive Chairman of FIRS. He replaces
Babatunde Fowler Babatunde Fowler (born 12 August 1956) is a Nigerian public officer, tax administrator and social reformer. He was the executive chairman of the Lagos State Board of Internal Revenue and chief executive officer of the Lagos State Internal Reven ...
. The incumbent Executive Chairman of FIRS is Zaccheus Adelabu  Adedeji popularly called Zacch Adedeji. He was appointed by President
Bola Tinubu Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu (born 29 March 1952) is a Nigerian politician serving as the 16th and current president of Nigeria since 2023. He previously served as the governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007, and senator for Lagos ...
on 14 September 2023, after the sack of Mr Nami.


Mandate and operations

Statutorily and administratively, the FIRS has the responsibility for the assessment, collection and accounting of taxes to the Government: * The timely provision and publication of accurate data and annual reports to the Federal Government of Nigeria and other stakeholders to inform national economic planning, academic research, tax policy and development legislation * The timely provision of tax advisory services, rulings, guidance notes and clarifications on request and to the public in general * The regular investigation, enforcement and prosecution of tax defaulters as provided by the law * The issuance of “Taxpayer Identification Number” (TIN) at no cost to the taxpayer * The prompt processing of payment claims and tax refund requests received, within stated timeframes * Undertake appropriate actions to reduce the arrears position of the service and minimize debt profile * The regular and accurate reconciliation of taxes received into Federation, Consolidated and VAT the case may be * Provision of tax education & information to taxpayers through diverse channels and languages


References

{{reflist, 1 Revenue services