Bauchi revenue board deploys technology to boost operations

Determined to improve service delivery and generate more internal revenue for the government, Bauchi State Internal Revenue Service (BIRS) has introduced and deployed technology applications to its operations.

Consequently, to actualise and perfect the new initiative, the Board under its Executive Chairman, Alhaji Mu’azu Umar has engaged various critical stakeholders in a roundtable discussion where some mutual agreements were reached.

Mu’azu Usman who disclosed this in an interactive session with Journalists in Bauchi on Tuesday, stated that a meeting held between the Board and all the 20 LGCs Chairpersons was aimed to address major challenges especially of multiple taxation, thereby harmonizing collections and blocking leakages.

He stated that, “At the moment, multiple agencies are collecting revenue and the tax payers will always say they have paid so so agency while the quantum of the amount and time are not verifiable. So all these will be rectified. We have a robust discussion with the Chairpersons and they accepted our position”.

The BIRS Executive Chairman explained that efficiency must be ensured in the process, adding that automation system would be deployed because at the state level they have capacity more than at the local government.

He stressed that they will adopt this capacity to assist in revenue derive of the local councils as well.

The BIRS EC added that, “Automation will play a key role, will do away with cash collection, will do away with manual processes of collecting and accounting for revenue.”

“So, all those will help to fast track collection process and remove leakages and make it a bit easier because we want our tax payers to find it easy to comply, so the cost of compliance will be very low for them. So we had this late January and will soon start this quarter in April insha Allah,” he said.

The Executive Chairman identified many transport unions amongst other key stakeholders in revenue generation, however, said that the administration of road taxes has been very challenging to the Board in the past but expressed gratitude to God because they are overcoming the challenges now.

“We had problems because there was no enforcement on anything to do with road tax until recently when the state governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed commissioned the Bauchi State Road Traffic Agency BAROTA, which the board is partnering to see how it can help to enforce traffic regulations in the state,” he added.

The BIRS, according to Mu’azu Usman, has been collaborating with all transport unions such as NURTW, RTEAN, Achaba and Keke Napep to enforce any matter related to road tax, saying they have started weigh billing and manifest with the cooperation of the unions.

“We are now enforcing on the Achaba and Keke NAPEP to update their particulars. We are doing body numbering for the Keke NAPEP to make sure that we know who is actually in the business, to improve security and also safety on the road and to generate revenue,” he argued.

The Executive Chairman therefore commended the support of the state Governor, Sen Bala Mohammad for the enabling environment created for the Board to operate.

He called on the tax paying public to redouble effort in paying their taxes promptly to pave the way for government to provide more dividends of democracy, emphasising that ftom the year 2020 to date all the capital projects being executed in the state are financed by the internally generated revenue.