Governor Uba Sani’s policy of financial inclusion and widening the tax net as well as reorganising the entire Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service(KADIRS), has resulted in increased internal revenue generation in Kaduna State.
The Executive Chairman of KADIRS, Mr Jerry Adams, who was speaking to newsmen over the weekend, said that it is not surprising that Kaduna State was ranked as the subnational with the highest revenue generation in 2023 by the National Bureau of Statistics(NBS).
Last week, NBS released the Internally Generated Revenue(IGR) of all in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory(FCT), showing that Kaduna State raked in N62.49 billion last year, emerging the state with the highest IGR earnings in the north.
Speaking to newsmen, the Executive Chairman of KADIRS said that the credit goes to Governor Uba Sani for automating tax administration in Kaduna State and providing work tools to drive the process.
According to him, KADIRS now has a One-Stop-Tax portal called ‘’Pay Kaduna Portal’’, which enables citizens to pay their taxes from anywhere, without physically coming to the tax agency’s offices.
‘’This automation has reduced leakages in the system. By just clicking on the particular tax icon, a tax payer can pay Withholding Tax, Stamp Duty Tax and so on,’’ Mr Adams said.
The Executive Chairman also pointed out that the Governor Uba Sani administration has widened the tax net without increasing tax in Kaduna State.
Mr Adams disclosed that KADIRS has been expanding the tax net in a horizontal manner since July last year, as against the vertical approach of the past which led to stagnation.
The Executive Chairman also maintained that the overall policies of Kaduna State Government helped significantly in improving its IGR.
‘’The policies of the Uba Sani administration have human face and this has made businesses and companies that have left Kaduna State in the past, to return. Coupled with that, he has initiated a lot of business-friendly policies which are having positive impact on revenue generation,’’ he said.
Mr Adams also said that the rural transformation of the Kaduna State Government has improved voluntary tax compliance ‘’because people can see how their money is being spent.’’
‘’Our motto is ‘Tax For Service’ and the present administration has demonstrated this by the laudable projects that it is embarking on, in the areas of roads construction, building new schools and other projects,’’ he added.
The Executive Chairman called on the people of Kaduna State to pay their taxes as and when due, especially Property Tax and Ground Rents, adding that companies should also remit Pay As You Earn Taxes promptly.
He said that KADIRS has the potential of improving on its tax collection and boosting the IGR of Kaduna State, given the support that it is getting from the Governor.
