Kwara State Government has established a new agency called Kwara State Internal Revenue Service with a mandate to generate five billion Naira monthly from the present eight hundred million Naira.
While commissioning the structure on Tuesday, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed explained that the dwindling revenue from the federal allocation and inability of the former board of the Internal Revenue to meet the target of one billion Naira monthly, informed its establishment.
Governor Ahmed said that the State Government is not collecting new taxes, but would improve in its collection, adding that it was imperative that the Internally Generated Revenue of the state was aligned with current realities by changing the people, processes and technology for revenue collection.
He stressed that the recent fall in global crude oil prices has led to a significant decrease in the funds available for distribution to federal, state and local government from the federation account.
The Chairman of the Kwara Internal Revenue Service, Muritala Awodun, explained that machinery has been put in place to ensure that the target is met with blocking of loopholes in the collection, operation of Treasury Single Account and electronic revenue management system.
He asked the people of Kwara to brace up for the future as the agency has set the target of 24 billion Naira, in 2016, which he believed is achievable.
After the commissioning and inspection of the building, the Governor also took time out to commission the Revenue Court purposely built for tax offenders.
He warned that any tax offenders in the state would not be spared.
