Victor Akinkuolie, Ado-Ekiti
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To eliminate fraud associated with tax collection and boost its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), Ekiti State Government is to appoint experts that would henceforth monitor revenue collectors across the 16 local governments of the state.
This plan of the government was made known by the Deputy Governor of the State, Mr Bisi Egbeyemi in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital on Tuesday.
Egbeyemi, who restated the government’s determination at ensuring that fraud in the collection of tax is eliminated in the state, called on the people to support Fayemi’s administration by paying their taxes regularly.
He affirmed that the move would enable the government to execute more projects that would have direct impacts on the lives of the people of the state.
According to a statement made available to Journalists by his Special Assistant (Media), Odunayo Ogunmola, Egbeyemi identified tax fraud and evasion as factors responsible for the low revenue base of the state.
Egbeyemi said government will put mechanisms in place to ensure that tax payers receive alerts on their phones as soon as payments are made to ensure accountability in the system.
He stressed that government will not tolerate a situation in which unscrupulous tax officials divert government revenue into their pockets through the printing of their own revenue receipts thereby denying government the funds needed to provide amenities for the people.
The Deputy Governor further explained that government will also appoint experts to monitor revenue collectors to instill probity, transparency and accountability into tax administration and block loopholes through which the state revenue find its way into private pockets.
The number two citizen said Governor Kayode Fayemi is ready to serve Ekiti diligently and irrevocably committed to its development but the people must play their own part by paying their taxes to enable government meet their needs in providing infrastructure and basic social amenities.
Egbeyemi said: “I want to appeal to our Obas, chiefs and community leaders to cooperate with us by enlightening our people to always pay their taxes for government to render better services to them.
“Majority of our people, except salary earners, don’t pay taxes. It is when we need Certificates of Occupancy or we are asked to produce evidence of tax payment that we will be running up and down.
“We must tell ourselves the truth because you have elected us to serve you. Lagos relies heavily on tax and there is no shop owner or house owner that does not pay tax. We also need your tax to develop Ekiti.”
