FIRS To Commence Collection Of Road Tax From Hairdressers, Carpenters, Drivers, Others

Muhammad Nami, executive chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), says the agency is proposing road infrastructure tax in Nigeria to make the informal sector contribute to building a modern society.

The informal sector has business activities that operate outside of government regulation and are largely unregistered. They include commercial bus drivers, artisans such as dressmakers, hairdressers, vulcanisers etc., mainly those in the low socio-economic strata, with low skills and poor education.

In a statement signed by Johannes Wojuola, media aide to the FIRS chairman, Nami disclosed this on Thursday while receiving a delegation of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) led by Chris Isiguzo, the National President, in his office, in Abuja.

According to the statement, Nami said the proposed road infrastructure tax to be administered by FIRS would provide the government with adequate funding for road construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance.

The statement added that the scheme would also provide the needed security for roads in the country.

“The only way to make the informal sector contribute to building a modern society is by making them pay when they use the roads,” Nami said.

“That is why we are proposing that government should consider introducing Road Infrastructure Tax in Nigeria.

“In many jurisdictions, road users pay for the use of road infrastructure as such it shouldn’t be seen as an additional burden on our citizens because it has the potential of making life better for all of us.”

He said the FIRS collected N4.2 trillion between January and September 2021 as VAT following the “successful facilitation of ISO 27001:2013 Certification of the FIRS’ Exchange of Information Centre and the achievement of 114.66 percent of the VAT collection target in the first half of the year”.