At the Lagos International Trade Fair’s FIRS Special Day, themed “Connecting Businesses, Creating Value,” the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) urged the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to ramp up its use of technology to streamline operations and boost tax compliance. LCCI President, Gabriel Idahosa, highlighted that engaging the informal sector through targeted outreach could cultivate a stronger culture of compliance.

According to Idahosa, collaborating with trade associations would offer a pathway to educating these segments more effectively. He further suggested that investments in analytics and artificial intelligence could enable FIRS to better predict revenue trends and implement focused compliance strategies, optimizing tax collection across sectors.

“Training FIRS’s workforce in global tax practices would ensure the agency’s agility in an evolving economic landscape,” said Idahosa. He pointed to Rwanda’s example of fully digitalized tax operations as a model for FIRS, asserting that such an approach could improve efficiency, cut costs, and make tax processes more accessible. He also recommended greater collaboration with state tax agencies to create a unified, simplified tax system that reduces redundancies.

Commending the FIRS’s commitment to institutional reforms and its evolving role from tax collector to service provider, Idahosa lauded Executive Chairman Dr. Zaccheaus Adedeji for his leadership. The LCCI president also urged FIRS to resolve existing tax system issues, including complex tax computations, a cumbersome payment process, and the multiplicity of taxes from agencies across the three levels of government, as well as a lack of awareness regarding tax regulations.

“Effective tax governance is essential for the ease of doing business,” Idahosa stated. “Businesses need the support of regulatory institutions like FIRS to thrive and compete.”

By adopting more technology, Idahosa emphasized, FIRS can make tax payments easier and more efficient, paving the way for enhanced tax compliance in the long run.