By Joseph Edegbo :
The Kaduna State Government is to resuscitate its Tax Academy to deepen the use of digital technology in tax administration
An official of the State Internal Revenue Service, Dr. Muhammed Lawal announced this at the just concluded 2-day Tax Summit in Zaria, organized by Tax Justice and Governance Platform in collaboration with Partnership to Engage Reform and Learn, PERL.
He said the Academy which had been moribund would apart from training tax experts, would also deepen the use of digital tools via E- learn portal, including socio media for Tax Payer engagement, education and sensitization.
Dr. Lawal who was speaking on “Digitalization Journey In Kaduna”,also disclosed that a new version of Tax platform billing and payment system would go into operation in December.
He stated that over 80% of the Agency’s service and mandate have been digitalized adding that Tax Clearance Certificate could now be obtained within 48 hrs while Vehicle Registration has been automated.
Dr. Lawal also expressed optimism that by next year, all the MDAs would be fully integrated to the central billing system.
He described the summit a worth while event, and thanked the organisers for a job well done.
At the opening session earlier, State Team Leader PERL, Mr Adejor Abel who spoke on effective tax delivery, stressed the need for community in the rural areas to have understanding of the issue.
He said the organisers would continue to carry out community engagement in the rural areas where local government councils and the citizens would be brought together.
Already, he said, 10 local government areas in the State have been covered, while the remaining 13 would also be covered soonest.
Mr Adejor said they would build the capacity of local CSOs, Community Based Organisations and Volunteers into the train -the -trainer scheme on taxation and other Government revenue and how to follow Government expenditure.
The summit featured panels of discussants on various issues on taxation including unveiling the factors underlying poor performance of government, including policy consideration and economic reforms as well as building a consensus among CSOs, private sector and the State Government on strategies for accelerating tax relief.
Participants who stressed the need for strong collaboration among stakeholders and awareness on tax matters were drawn from the CSOs, NGOs market women and Persons With Disability among others.