FIRS, LIRS set up joint tax audit team to cut compliance costs

The Lagos Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish a joint audit and investigation team (JAIT).

In a statement on Wednesday, Ayodele Subair, executive chairman of LIRS, said JAIT aims to encourage the exchange of information between both agencies.

Subair said the collaboration would improve tax administration by reducing compliance costs, thereby enabling ease of doing business in the country.

He also said the objective of the agreement is to ensure efficiency, accurate assessments, and increased revenue for funding government expenditures.

According to Subair, while the agencies carry out their respective mandates, JAIT would “help the administration enhance tax revenue generation, create a robust database and improve the country’s tax-togross domestic product (GDP) ratio”.

“There is no reason to debate the above as it has been established that tax compliance and good governance are expected to co-exist as the undividable social contract that binds citizens and governments anywhere in the world,” the LIRS taxman said.

“Therefore, citizens and governments are expected to fulfill their end of the bargain in achieving a balance.”

Speaking on the agreement, Muhammad Nami, executive chairman of FIRS, said the cooperation fosters sharing relevant information that would assist both parties in their tax administration and enforcement roles.

This, he said, would also provide capacity building between both tax authorities.

“We will carry out a joint audit and investigation as a team, we will also conduct an automatic exchange of information for gathering data for the purpose of tax administration. With that information, we would be able to carry out tax administration seamlessly,” Nami said.