By John Charles
The Acting Chairman of the Benue State Internal Revenue Service, Emmanuel Agena, has said 35 people who engage in illegal tax collection in the state are facing prosecution.
He stated that the agency was targeting to generate over N16bn in 2024.
The acting BIRS chairman, who disclosed this on Monday while speaking with journalists, added that in 2023, the board surpassed its N14bn target.
Agena lamented the activities of illegal tax collectors in the state, noting that most of them had the backing of prominent individuals.
He said under his watch, the era of patronising politicians had become history.
The BIRS boss frowned on the recent incident where a truck conveying palliatives from Adamawa State to Anambra State was hijacked by some youths in Aliade, Gwer East.
He said, “A truck was intercepted and the driver beaten, while the windscreen of the vehicle was broken and over N200,000 stolen. Three persons have been arrested and are in police custody. They will be moved to the DSS headquarters for investigation.
“We aim to flush out illegal tax collectors or reduce their number to the barest minimum. Already, 35 people who engaged in illegal tax collection have been arrested and facing prosecution.
“This has been a big challenge. We have constituted a team headed by the Director of Tax Collection. Prominent people in the state are involved in encouraging these boys.
“We also plan to recover over N5.6bn from ground rent. We are liaising with the Ministry of Land towards this direction.
“We also engaged the service of Softnet, an ICT company, to aid us in collecting revenue. They are paid a commission. The company has engaged over 250 staff who have been trained and given Point of Sale machines to collect revenue.
“Taxation is about confidence. Our work now is easy because taxpayers are willing to pay because the people are seeing what the government is doing.”
Source: The Punch
