By Hillary Asemota
The Commonwealth Tax Administrators Forum (CATA) has elected the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Muhammad Nami, as its 15th President.
The Chairmanship has a three-year tenure.
The newly elected President reputed to be a renowned tax administrator brings in decades of experience in taxation and administration both in private and public sectors.
In his acceptance speech which was read during virtually at the conference, he thanked the members for the confidence reposed on him by electing Nigeria as their President.
Nami, pledged to serve dutifully, shouldering the enormous responsibility that comes with the assignment.
The Special Assistant on Media and Communications to the Executive Chairman, FIRS, Johannes Oluwatobi Wojuola, in a statement quoted her boss as saying: “Your support is an honour that I do not take lightly.
“I want to assure all members that I will work assiduously in delivering on the mandate of this office; and I will not disappoint you. It is a great privilege and I do not take it for granted.”
The FIRS boss, who is the former Chairman of the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), acknowledged that taxation has become the mainstay for economies the world over in providing the required revenue to fund governance, due mainly to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Today, taxation has become the mainstay of every economy around the globe. The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the earnings of most economies, especially those whose revenue sources were fetched from activities such as recreational tourism, medical tourism, minerals exploration, commodity exportation etc.
“These activities were performed minimally, and in some cases even experienced total cessation due to physical restrictions imposed by many nations during the COVID-19 lockdown. Economies across the world have had no other choice but to look inward to taxation as the most viable alternative to provide the required revenue to fund government.” He stated.
He went further to note that with the COVID-19 lockdown, digital technologies have transformed the way and manner humans interact and do business with each other, which has consequently brought about novel challenges for tax administrators.
“This new normal brought about a greater embrace of digital technologies that came with its own challenges for tax administrators. One of these challenges is the inadequate capacity of tax administrators to understand and track digitalised transactions which has become the order of the day.”
He promised to mobilise the 47 member countries and other tax bodies to build capacity of tax administrators to tackle the challenges they face.
“I will work with the CATA Secretariat to effectively collaborate with other tax bodies such as ATAF, WATAF, UN, OECD, NTO, among others, in the area of training and sharing of experience of good and innovative practices in tax administration around the globe.
“One goal I hope to achieve as your President is to work hand-in-hand with member countries to expand the character of tax administration such that our work is in tune with today’s innovation and realities.” CATA’s newly elected President stated.
