The Imo State Internal Revenue Service, (IIRS) has concluded arrangements to deploy some of its staff to commercial banks operating in the state to help in capturing the data of eligible taxpayers through the ‘Imo State Social Security Identification Number’ (IMSSIN).
The Chairman of IIRS, Mr. Justice Okoye disclosed this in a meeting he held with APPMART Nigeria Limited and representatives of commercial banks in his office in Owerri recently.
Explaining the importance of the IMSSIN, Okoye said it was in line with the automation plan of the state government for the revenue generation, which is aimed at giving each taxpayer a unique identification number for easy profiling among other benefits.
Okoye said that all data collected would be warehoused with Imo Data Management Centre for safe-keeping, confidentiality and for further galvanisation of the revenue automation system in the state.
“In view of this development, the Service has resolved to deploy about 20 staff across all commercial banks operating in Imo state to man the electronic data capturing of taxpayers that go to the banks daily,” he said.
He expressed hope that the measure would ensure that all payments are made into the Treasury Single Account (TSA), of the state government and also enable taxpayers to segment payments into appropriate accounts of each of the local government areas.
The Group Head, Audit and Investigation department of IIRS, Mr Chimenka Ezeribe identified banks as one of the major stakeholders in revenue business as he expressed optimism that partnering with them would be of great advantage.
The representative of Union Bank Nigeria, Mrs Ngozi Osuji who spoke on behalf of her colleagues commended the Executive Chairman for the great work she said the chairman was doing “and for ensuring that issues of double taxation, incessant harassment and unethical approaches in the collection of revenues in the stated have almost become a thing of the past.” She also promised that the banks would continue to promote seamless revenue collection for the state.
The banks represented at the meeting included First Bank Nigeria plc, Fidelity Bank, Keystone Bank, Zenith Bank, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Polaris Bank, Access Bank and Ecobank Nigeria plc, among others.
