Sir Macaulay Atasie, the Chief Economic Adviser to Abia state Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, has given an insight to the achievements of the state Board of Internal Revenue (BIR) under his administration.
Mac Atasie who doubles as the Chairman, Abia Economic Advancement Team (ABEAT), while speaking to selected journalists in Umuahia on Friday, March 11, revealed that the Board made N18.5bn as Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) for the state government which has never been achieved before his emergence.
According to him, the new change was achieved through a re-strategic method of identifying vehicles, enforcing tax collections through E-tickets, E- emblems, etc.
He noted that the presence of paper documentation made the state loose to individuals who collect revenue and pocket it without making adequate returns. He noted that the electronic system of payment/collection of tax has eleated the state’s IGR with 1.167bn generated in 2021 from E-tickets.
The ABEAT Chairman also revealed that Aba, the commercial city of the state, currently generate N2M on Saturdays alone expressing confidence that Abia state can generate N10bn monthly with the right people and measures in place.
“The power of logic and drive is what I sell. If you lodge into a plan without action you’ll land into problems” he stated.
Atasie warned that the era of individuals collecting revenue and sharing it among themselves is over, noting that the BIR’s efforts in queuing into globalization is yielding fruitful results and they will continue pushing.
Responding to a concern that the introduction of electronic system for revenue collection will add to the rate of unemployment in the state, Atasie assured that rather than creating unemployment, the system will create more employment opportunities for Abians who will serve as Agents and get paid for their services.
He noted also that the agents are being trained.
Mac Atasie was recently awarded distinguished Anambra state commander award by the Anambra state government.
The mission of the BIR is;
“To drive the IGR programs management institutes private sector mindset and introduce any necessary innovations. The BIR is keen to positively modify the ways style and values of the Abia internal revenue service.
“This mandate commenced effectively in the last quarter of 2020 and this in the last one year we have instituted and driven several initiatives and deployed both strategies and system to drive IGR in the state”
What the Abia State Board of Internal Revenue Has achieved under Mac Atasie:
-institutionalized the LEADCEMS strategy.
– injected the private sector mindset in getting jobs done by introducing target based incentives with proper structure in the zonal leaderships.
– helped bridge the gap between the BIR and other revenue generating MDAs.
-introduced innovative technologies that have helped drive major activities and changes in the BIR
-Introduction of the Abia State Social Identity Number (ABSSIN), an electronic number that uniquely identifies a tax paying entity (facial biometrics, self enumeration, de-duplication)
– E- tickets and E-emblem
-self service USSD for markets collection
-universal receipting platform
-market information system
-demand notice management Application
-introduced a functional and effective TMS
-EMIS platform alongside the schools registration platform
-collections all tied to the payer’s identity (ABSSIN)
-A better structured and organized enforcement
-bridge gap in tax knowledge between the public and ABIRS –improved media ad advocacy with smart customer care number 0700 CALL-ABIRS-0700-2255-22477
MDAs automation with Abia OneServe and pay small small (where tax payers can pay in installment).
