The Cross River Internal Revenue Service (CRIRS) has continued to prepare stakeholders for the new national tax law which comes into operations on January 1,2026.
In this regard, the CRIRS has moved further engagements and training sessions in Calabar for Local Government Areas Finance officials to dispel uncertainty and guarantee a seamless roll out in the days ahead.
The event, themed "Ensuring Effective Implementation of Tax Reforms - Local Government Perspective," brought together the Joint State Revenue Committee (JOSREC) alongside key officials, including the Executive Chairman of CRIRS/JOSREC, Prince Edwin Okon,., the Cross River State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Corps Commander Innocent T. Etuk, Local Government Supervisors of Finance, Revenue Officers, and various Tax Professionals, who met to deliberate on effective reform implementation.
In his remark, the Executive Chairman, Prince Edwin Okon, urged all stakeholders to work together to ensure the effective implementation of the tax reforms, promoting a more efficient and transparent tax system that would be beneficial to all levels of government and Nigerians as a whole.
Presentations and discussions centred on : Overview of the Nigerian Tax Reform Acts: The Local Government Perspective by Dr. Esien Ukorebi; Tax Reform vs Revenue Growth: Key Areas of Focus by the Chairman, JOSREC, and The Consolidated Demand Notices between the State and Local Government by NUGITECH.
Key takeaways include: that in the exercise of one of it's functions, the Joint Revenue Board has presented to the Governor a draft copy of the new Taxes and Levies Bill, which has harmonized taxes and levies at the State and Local Government levels; the use of data for tax by Revenue Authorities to determine the financial position of Tax payers for proper tax assessment; the Joint State Revenue Committee has a key role in the effective implementation of the Tax Reform Acts in the State and finally by January, 2026,JOSREC will now be referred to as The State Joint Revenue Committee.
Some of the resolutions taken for the effective implementation of the provisions of the Nigeria Tax Reform Acts in the State include: the establishment of a Local Government Revenue Committee in each Local Government Area in accordance with the provisions of Section 93 of the Nigerian Tax Administration Act; implement e-filing and e-payment platforms to simplify tax processes; Harmonization of identified Revenue items between the Local and State Government should be implemented by the various Local Government Councils as well as to organize a training on the reform Acts for the Governor and Local Government Chairmen.
Others include strengthening the synergy between Federal, State and Local Governments to facilitate cooperation and maximize revenue administration and collection, implementation of a unified tax system is reduce multiple tax system to reduce multiple taxation and enhance compliance, among other resolutions.
Achiane Adams
