Kaduna Generates Over N17bn In 2016, Targets N50.2bn In 2017

Chairman, Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service (KADIRS), Malam Muktar Ahmed, has disclosed that the state has generated over N17 billion as internally generated revenue (IGR) in 2016.

This is just as he said that the state targets N50.2 billion IGR in 2017, an average of N4.1 billion monthly.

He noted that the N17 billion generated in 2016 represent an increase of about 50 per cent  from the N11.5 billion generated in 2015.

He attributed the increasing revenue profile of the state to the present reform in revenue collection, particularly the new tax law that established the KADIRS in March 2016.

He said that the law had, among other things, harmonised and automated all revenue collection in the state.

“The law has abolished physical collection of cash by any staffer of the service. Every tax payer now pays his tax directly to the bank. This has helped in blocking leakages, “he added.

The chairman explained that the state was able to double its IGR from between N600 and N800 million a month to an average of N1.4 billion a month, courtesy of the new law.

“When we came on board, the monthly collection was hovering from N600 to N900 million, but from the time I took over in January 2016, it kept going up until it peaked at N2billion in December.

“It went up to N1.6 billion in June and July, and went as high as N2.1 billion in December, but on the average, the monthly collection stood at 1.4 billion.

“This was achieved by not imposing a single tax. In short, the new tax law reduces some tax rates. What we did was to simply improve efficiency in tax collection.

“What was happening in the past was that most of what government was collecting as revenue did not end up in government accounts.”

“The process was sloppy and there was a lot of diversion of the resources. The law, therefore closed the gaps, such that only the state revenue service is empowered to collect revenue, “Ahmed said.