The Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zaccheus Adedeji, has provided insights into the proposed renaming of the FIRS to the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS).
Speaking on Wednesday before the House of Representatives Committee on Finance, Adedeji explained that the current name does not fully reflect the agency’s expanded role and limits its ability to perform broader functions.
The name change is part of a series of tax reform bills sent by President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly for passage.
These include the Nigeria Revenue Service Act, which would repeal the current FIRS Act, along with the Tax Administration Bill, Nigeria Revenue Service Establishment Bill, and the Joint Revenue Board Establishment Bill.
Adedeji emphasized that the terms “federal” and “inland” in the current name no longer accurately describe the agency’s operations, which now encompass revenue collection for federal, state, and local governments, as well as from international platforms like Amazon and Google.
“Today, we are called the Federal Inland Revenue Service as though we only collect revenue for the federal government or within Nigeria. That was the case when the service was established, but today, one of the revenues we collect is Value Added Tax (VAT), and 85 per cent of this VAT goes to the states. Therefore, our name no longer accurately reflects our operations,” Adedeji explained.
He further added that the term “inland” is outdated, as the FIRS now collects revenues beyond Nigeria’s borders, including online transactions from platforms like Jumia and Google.
“As the Nigeria Revenue Service, we can collect any revenue, whether from within Nigeria or outside,” he said.
During the session, some lawmakers expressed concerns about the potential impact of the bills, particularly the risk of rendering other revenue-collecting agencies redundant.
However, Adedeji assured the lawmakers that the proposed changes would not result in the merger of agencies or the introduction of new taxes.
