The Bauchi State Internal Revenue Service has deployed the application of technology in its operations, to improve internally generated revenue derive.
In order to actualise and perfect the new initiative, the board under it’s executive chairman, Alhaji Mu’azu Usman had engaged various critical stakeholders to a roundtable discussion where some mutual agreements were reached.
Mu’azu Usman who disclosed this in an interview in Bauchi, said a meeting held between the board and all the 20 local government chairmen in the state was aimed to address major challenges especially of multiple taxation, thereby harmonizing collections and blocking leakages.
He said at the moment, multiple agencies are collecting revenue which is becoming a source of worry, necessitating the board’s resolve to rectify and address grey areas for the betterment of the entire people of the state. And all the local government chairmen have reasoned with the board and pledge their support.
The BIRS executive chairman who explained that efficiency must be ensured in the process, added that automation system would be deployed because at the state level they have capacity more than at the local government saying they will adopt this capacity to assist in revenue derive of the local councils as well.
According to him, automation will play a key role, will do away with cash collection, will do away with manual processes of collecting and accounting for revenue. So all those will help to fast track collection process and remove leakages and make it a bit easier because they want the tax payers to find it easy to comply, so that the cost of compliance will be very low for them, announcing that they had this, late January and will soon start this quarter in April insha Allah.
Mu’azu Usman who identified many transport unions amongst other key stakeholders in revenue generation, however, said the administration of road taxes has been very challenging to the board in the past but expressed gratitude to God because they are overcoming the challenges now.
The board he explained had problems before because there was no enforcement on anything to do with road tax until recently when the state governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed commissioned the Bauchi State Road Traffic Agency BAROTA, which the board is partnering to see how it can help to enforce traffic regulations in the state.
The BIRS according to Mu’azu Usman has been collaborating with all transport unions such as NURTW, RTEAN, Achaba and Keke Napep to enforce any matter related to road tax, saying they have started weigh billing and manifest with the cooperation of the unions.
“We are now enforcing on the Achaba and Keke Napep to update their particulars. We are doing body numbering for the Keke Napep to make sure that we know who is actually in the business, to improve security and also safety on the road and to generate more revenue,” he argued.
The executive chairman Bauchi State Internal Revenue Service, Alhaji Mu’azu Usman therefore commended the support of the state governor Bala Mohammad for the enabling environment created for the board to operate, calling on the tax paying public to redouble effort in paying their taxes promptly to pave the way for government to provide more dividends of democracy, emphasising that ftom the year 2020 to date the BIRS have been complementing governor Bala Mohammed’s developmental projects being executed in the state with the internally generated revenue, adding that the task is a collective responsibility of all and sundry.
