The Chairman of the Ekiti State Internal Revenue Service (EKIRS), Mr. Olaniran Olatona has advocated more synergy between his office and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) towards improving revenue generation in the State.
Mr. Olatona who made the call in Ado Ekiti during a courtesy visit to the office of the coordinator of FIRS in Ekiti State, Prince Isola Akingbade, reiterated his commitment to boosting the State’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and significantly reducing the dependence on the State meager monthly allocation from the Federation account.
Olatona highlighted areas of possible collaboration to include joint enforcement and monitoring, data sharing on registration of new businesses amongst others, stamp duty transactions, cooperation between the Audit departments of both services and compliance with extant tax laws.
In his remarks, the Coordinator of FIRS in Ekiti State, Prince Isola Akingbade who also doubles as the coordinator for Ekiti, Ondo and Kwara States, congratulated Mr. Olatona on his appointment as the Executive Chairman of EKIRS.
Prince Akingbade expressed confidence in the ability of Olatona to succeed going by his proven track record.
He however described his new assignment as extremely difficult, noting that Ekiti State was a difficult terrain to practice tax.
“You can’t tax and please at the same time”, Akingbade noted, adding that “he must be ready to make more foes than friends”.
Akingbade stressed the need to domesticate contractors’ Tax Identification Number (TIN) in order to fully benefit from the 7.5% VAT element and the 5% Withholding Tax element on contracts and projects executed in the State, adding that all private Enterprises and Limited Liability Companies remitting PAYE to the State should also register with the FIRS for the benefit of all stakeholders.
Also in attendance was the chairman traditional council of obas in Ekiti State and the Onisan of Isan Ekiti, Oba Gabriel Ayodele Adejuwon who charged the new chairman to look inwards in generating revenue for the state without putting burden on the residents. The royal father however gave the new chairman royal blessings as he begins his assignment in Ekiti State.
Packaged by Emmanuel Adeniran
