By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) has re-echoed its determination to boost the revenue of the state government through technology and advocacy.
The executive chairman of the agency, Mr Ayodele Subair, disclosed that the use of technology has helped to optimise the organisation’s operations while also enhancing revenue generation for the state.
Mr Subair, who was a guest on a public enlightenment television programme on taxation, monitored on Channels Television recently, also stated that effective advocacy can significantly enhance the state’s revenue generation.
“One of the first things we did was to look at the market, the taxpayers and then we did some element of market segmentation, recognising that there are some players in the market who work in an unstructured environment, some work in a structured environment, formal and informal,” the tax expert said the newly launched 30-minute show known as The Tax Talk.
“We looked at the situation where we have high net worth individuals, and then we set up shop to make sure that we plan to cater for the different needs of the different segments of taxpayers.
“So, having done that, we looked at our processes, did a lot of process reengineering, and looked at removing all the things that would make our jobs longer or more difficult.
“We also looked at the staffing arrangements, we looked at human resources and designed a whole set of training programs to ensure that everybody is up to the task,” he averred.
The Tax Talk is an LIRS production that is aired weekly on TVC, Channels TV, LTV and WAP TV.
Speaking further, he said, “We looked at the applications that we had in place in terms of the software. How efficient were they? How easy was it for members of the public to access and also to understand? So, we came up with the e-tax application, which is an end-to-end tax administrative solution.
“It runs through the whole process, right from registration to raising of assessments, up to the filing of tax returns, making payments through the various payment channels, the ability to print out the receipts, and of course, at the end of the day, generate tax clearance certificates. So, with that in place, it’s gone a long way.”
According to him, “If we did not introduce technology, no, doubt, we’re going to have very, very limited success. We have our e-tax, and we also have our IBILE hub software to take care of the informal sector. One of the key features of the IBILE hub software is that it allows instalment payments from members of the sector.
“With the e-tax solution, people no longer have to troop and come to LIRS offices. From the comfort of their homes, they can carry out all their tax business, all the things that had issues in the past, that had problems, that created tension between the public and members of the organization, all these have been taken out completely. And there’s the ease of doing business.
“So, with this, move in that direction, we expect to move the revenue upwards continually. We’re quite confident that we will get there.
“We’re exploring constantly and bringing initiatives on how we can leverage fully on technology. We intend to set up some research units that will delve more into technology to see how it can be relevant to our operations and, of course, to the benefit of taxpayers. We’re constantly looking at how we can make tax experience very easy for members of the public.”
Dipo Olowookere