The Acting Executive Chairman, Mr. Justice R. Okoye led a team from the Imo State Internal Revenue Service (IIRS) to meet with the Honourable Commissioner of Finance and Coordinating Economy, Dr. Chuck Chukuemeka, on Tuesday, 29th of October 2024.
The meeting was held to enhance collaboration and partnership aimed at increasing the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
The Chairman praised the Commissioner for his dedication towards the growth of Imo State and highlighted key ways to boost the IGR which include deployment of Tax Management Solution to facilitate smoother tax payments and addressing conflicts in tax collection among MDA’s.
He sought more collaboration with the Ministry to enhance revenue generation in Imo State.
The Commissioner welcomed the IIRS team and commended the efforts of the IIRS Chairman. He emphasised the intertwined relationship between the IIRS and the Ministry towards achieving set goals.
Dr. Chukuemeka mentioned that a revenue harmonisation committee was formed to resolve the challenges of overlap and conflict among MDA’s as regards to revenue collection.
He agreed that the new tax system would close gaps in tax administration and management suggesting that educating and sensitizing taxpayers on the new system would go a long way to make tax compliance more effective.
The Commissioner also suggested making Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC) a pre-requisite for certain services like school registration, passport issuance, running for Government offices etc, to which the IIRS boss affirmed that correspondences have been had with some of these institutions.
The Permanent Secretary pointed out that some ministries do not have sufficient revenue codes, leading to unregulated cash collections. She recommended that all revenue streams be formally captured to enhance the collection of IGR.
The Commissioner reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment to work collaboratively with IIRS to boost the state’s revenue and proposed regular meetings to ensure progress.