The Federal Inland Revenue Service on Monday announced the take-off of the online tax payers' platform to ease the payment of taxes in the country.
The Service explained that with the new arrangement, anybody who wishes to pay tax can easily do so online by logging into the internet banking platform of any of the commercial banks, choose the FIRS link and follow the prompts.
Acting Chairman of the FIRS, Kabir Mashi, said the new platform is the product of the electronic tax-pay solution, an ease of tax payment initiative of the Service in collaboration with the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System and Systemspecs Limited.
At the launch and public sensitization of the new platform in Lagos, Mr. Mashi explained that the e-Tax Pay Solution was a self-service FIRS channel available on all commercial banks.'
He said once a taxpayer logs into any bank's Internet banking platform, he can access the FIRS link to pay his taxes and submit necessary documents the same way he may chose to pay other bills.
The Chairman, who was represented at the occasion by an official of the FIRS, Achilis Amahwe, explained that the system is simple and convenient to operate.
"It is that accessible and it is very secure," he said. "Taxpayers do not have to go to any tax office before taxes are paid. Tax payment is just a click away," he said.
According to him, it was the quest for simplification of the tax payment process and ease of access to tax services that led FIRS to roll out the electronic filing service under the Integrated Tax Administration System.
The new system, he said, serves as a means of reducing time and cost of compliance for taxpayers as well as ease interface between taxpayers and authorities.
Besides, he said the system provides additional convenience for taxpayers interested in, from the comfort of their homes and offices, uploading their tax returns on the e-Tax Pay Solution platform.
Mr. Mashi urged taxpayers to cultivate the attitude of using the e-Tax Pay Solution, or e-filing platforms, as those were created for their convenience and ultimately engender a transparent and efficient tax system that optimizes tax revenue collection and voluntary compliance.
He said the FIRS was hoping that taxpayers would respond positively to these innovations and utilize them to a large scale.
The new system would not only ease compliance for the taxpayers, but also enable FIRS to ensure greater transparency in tax operations.
This would give Nigerians full access to their records, which they uploaded as well as payments they make," the Chairman said.
The Coordinating Director, Field Operations Group, who was represented by Director, Medium Tax Department, Peter Olayemi, said the e-Tax Pay Solution would boost tax revenue collection.
The self-service initiatives, he said, were introduced to strengthen the self-assessment regime and improve voluntary tax compliance using the online payment options.
These initiatives would bring in more tax revenues and also provide convenience for both the taxpayers and the tax authorities." Mr. Olayemi said.
Also speaking at the event, the Director, Programme Management Office (Tax), Gbolaga Oshiga, said the platform was so user-friendly and interactive that a first-time user would not find it difficult to complete the process.
The launch and demonstration of the platform attracted stakeholders from various sectors of the Nigerian economy including Dangote Plc, Guiness Nigeria, Chevron, banks and telecommunications operators.
The e-Tax Pay Solution is an initiative put together by the FIRS in collaboration with the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement System (NIBSS) and System Specs Limited to meet the expectations of taxation stakeholders in the area of service delivery.
Premium Times
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Monday, March 2, 2015
Video - Nigerian military making advancements against Boko Haram
Nigeria's military says never again will it suffer a defeat at the hands of Boko Haram like it did at Baga. It is racing against a tight deadline to defeat Boko Haram insurgents ahead of the March 28th presidential elections. But with just four weeks to go, the militants have been resurgent this past week with at least 86 people killed in explosions at bus stations in the north and central regions.
Mob in Nigeria beat to death suspected female suicide bomber
A mob in northeastern Nigeria has beaten a woman to death and burnt her body over suspicion she was planning to carry out a suicide bombing, police and witnesses have said.
Witnesses said the victim and a second woman had refused to be searched at the entrance of the largest market in the city of Bauchi on Sunday morning.Bauchi state police spokesman Haruna Mohammed described the slain woman as the victim of "mob action carried out by an irate crowd".
It seemed doubtful the woman was actually a bomber as she did not detonate any explosives when she was attacked, Mohammed said.
He said police had deployed to the scene to disperse the mob but the woman died before officers could rescue her. None of the attackers were arrested, he said.
However, the second woman who allegedly refused to be searched was arrested, the Associated Press reported. The news agency said both women were teenagers.
Vegetable vendor Mohd Adamu told the AP that when the women refused to be screened, people overpowered one girl and discovered she had two bottles strapped to her body. They clubbed her to death, put a tyre doused in fuel over her head and set it on fire, he said.
A spate of suicide bombings has been blamed on Nigeria's Boko Haram group, which wants to enforce strict Islamic law in the north.
Recently some girls as young as 10 years old have been used to carry explosives that detonated in busy markets and bus stations. It is unclear whether the girls detonated explosives themselves or whether the bombs were controlled remotely.
About 10,000 people died in Nigeria from Boko Haram's violence last year, compared to 2,000 in the first four years of the group's armed campaign, according to the US Council on Foreign Relations. About 1.5 million people have been driven from their homes.
Aljazeera
Witnesses said the victim and a second woman had refused to be searched at the entrance of the largest market in the city of Bauchi on Sunday morning.Bauchi state police spokesman Haruna Mohammed described the slain woman as the victim of "mob action carried out by an irate crowd".
It seemed doubtful the woman was actually a bomber as she did not detonate any explosives when she was attacked, Mohammed said.
He said police had deployed to the scene to disperse the mob but the woman died before officers could rescue her. None of the attackers were arrested, he said.
However, the second woman who allegedly refused to be searched was arrested, the Associated Press reported. The news agency said both women were teenagers.
Vegetable vendor Mohd Adamu told the AP that when the women refused to be screened, people overpowered one girl and discovered she had two bottles strapped to her body. They clubbed her to death, put a tyre doused in fuel over her head and set it on fire, he said.
A spate of suicide bombings has been blamed on Nigeria's Boko Haram group, which wants to enforce strict Islamic law in the north.
Recently some girls as young as 10 years old have been used to carry explosives that detonated in busy markets and bus stations. It is unclear whether the girls detonated explosives themselves or whether the bombs were controlled remotely.
About 10,000 people died in Nigeria from Boko Haram's violence last year, compared to 2,000 in the first four years of the group's armed campaign, according to the US Council on Foreign Relations. About 1.5 million people have been driven from their homes.
Aljazeera
Friday, February 27, 2015
Video - The mass unemployed in Nigeria
Goodluck Jonathan says he'll create two million jobs if he's re-elected as President of Nigeria.
But the low price of oil, which is the bedrock of their economy, may impact those plans.
Around a quarter of Nigerians of working age are currently unemployed.
Amongst the youth, the figure is much higher, at more than 50 percent.
Suicide bombings in Jos and Biu kill 35 people
At least 35 people were killed on Thursday in two attacks in the northeast Nigerian town of Biu and central Nigerian city of Jos, according to residents and the military.
In the first attack, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives at Tashar Gandu bus station on the outskirts of the town of Biu in northeast Nigerian Borno state, killing 18 people and injuring six others.
A second bomber was mobbed and killed before he could detonate his explosives at the scene of the carnage, residents and local vigilantes said.
"We have received 18 dead bodies from the scene of the suicide explosion along with six injured victims," said a nurse at the Biu General Hospital who asked not to be named to protect her safety.
"The two men came to the bus station around 2:55 p.m. pretending to be traders intending to take a bus back to their village and one of them detonated his explosives among a group of passengers waiting to board a bus," local vigilante Ahmad Girema said.
"He killed 18 people, including three women. His accomplice was, however, restrained by the crowd around before he could pull the trigger ... and (he was) beaten to death," Girema said.
His account was supported by Laminu Kolo, a driver at the bus station.
An angry mob later doused the body of the failed bomber with gasoline and set it alight from a distance, causing the unexploded devices on him to explode, Kolo said.
Hours later, 17 people were killed in the central city of Jos when explosives were thrown on two crowds from a moving car.
"There were twin explosions along Bauchi Road this evening, which killed 17 people and injured some others," said Iweaha Ikedichi, military spokesman in the city.
Ikedichi declined to provide details of the incident.
However, witnesses said two explosives were thrown at an open-air bus station along Bauchi Road, killing five people and injuring several others.
"There was a heavy downpour today and soon after the rains stopped, a car drove along the road and two explosives were thrown at the motor park, which killed five people," said Sagir Badaru, a driver at the Bauchi Road bus station.
"The car threw another explosive in the midst of grocers outside the main bus station some hundreds of meters away, killing 12 people and wounding many," Badaru said.
Although no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, Boko Haram Islamists, who have carried out deadly bombings in Biu and Jos, are the prime suspects.
The Islamists are believed to be behind a recent spate of suicide bombings and attacks in parts of the north in response to a sweeping offensive on Boko Haram strongholds in northeast Nigeria by a regional alliance of troops from Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria.
CNN
In the first attack, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives at Tashar Gandu bus station on the outskirts of the town of Biu in northeast Nigerian Borno state, killing 18 people and injuring six others.
A second bomber was mobbed and killed before he could detonate his explosives at the scene of the carnage, residents and local vigilantes said.
"We have received 18 dead bodies from the scene of the suicide explosion along with six injured victims," said a nurse at the Biu General Hospital who asked not to be named to protect her safety.
"The two men came to the bus station around 2:55 p.m. pretending to be traders intending to take a bus back to their village and one of them detonated his explosives among a group of passengers waiting to board a bus," local vigilante Ahmad Girema said.
"He killed 18 people, including three women. His accomplice was, however, restrained by the crowd around before he could pull the trigger ... and (he was) beaten to death," Girema said.
His account was supported by Laminu Kolo, a driver at the bus station.
An angry mob later doused the body of the failed bomber with gasoline and set it alight from a distance, causing the unexploded devices on him to explode, Kolo said.
Hours later, 17 people were killed in the central city of Jos when explosives were thrown on two crowds from a moving car.
"There were twin explosions along Bauchi Road this evening, which killed 17 people and injured some others," said Iweaha Ikedichi, military spokesman in the city.
Ikedichi declined to provide details of the incident.
However, witnesses said two explosives were thrown at an open-air bus station along Bauchi Road, killing five people and injuring several others.
"There was a heavy downpour today and soon after the rains stopped, a car drove along the road and two explosives were thrown at the motor park, which killed five people," said Sagir Badaru, a driver at the Bauchi Road bus station.
"The car threw another explosive in the midst of grocers outside the main bus station some hundreds of meters away, killing 12 people and wounding many," Badaru said.
Although no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, Boko Haram Islamists, who have carried out deadly bombings in Biu and Jos, are the prime suspects.
The Islamists are believed to be behind a recent spate of suicide bombings and attacks in parts of the north in response to a sweeping offensive on Boko Haram strongholds in northeast Nigeria by a regional alliance of troops from Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria.
CNN
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