The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), has issued the Nigeria LNG (NLNG) Limited with a N37.28 billion tax credit certificate for the construction of the Bonny-Bodo Road in Rivers State.
The project was undertaken under the Federal Government’s Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme to close the infrastructure gap, according to a statement on Sunday.
The statement was issued by the Special Assistant to the FIRS Chairman of (Media & Communication), Johannes Wojuola.
FIRS Chairman, Mohammed Nami, while commending the NLNG management for its increased investments in Nigeria, was quoted as saying: “The Service has faith in your company and increased investment it is making in our country.
“We look forward with optimism to the completion of your Train Seven Project for it to join the country’s tax revenue streams.”
He added that the FIRS management is improving its relations with stakeholders and building a customer-centric tax authority for improved revenue generation.
Nami continued: “In order to efficiently deliver on our mandate, the Board and Management of the Service is focused on the following strategic planks and action areas:
- we are energising our consultations and regular engagements with stakeholders;
- we are building a customer centric and data centric organisation while also restructuring the administrative framework and processes of the Service;
- we are driving towards full automation of core tax operations.
“You may recall that the FIRS started with the development and deployment of an in-house digital solution – The Taxpromax Solution. This solution allows taxpayers to sit in the comfort of their offices or homes to file returns, pay taxes and conduct all forms of tax processes with us.
“At the heart of our customer-centric reforms is the setting up of a multilingual Call Centre for enquiries and reports from taxpayers.
“Consequent upon these strategic moves, the Service recorded an unprecedented collection of over N6trillion in 2021 and has set its sight on higher performance this year. There is no doubt that the Service can achieve its targets with taxpayers like the NLNG.
This would be the first time the Island of Bonny will be linked by road to the rest of the country. And this is very significant to the development and advancement of the country because it will open new opportunities for economic activity.
Leveraging the initiative
NLNG’s Deputy Managing Director, Olalekan Ogunleye, who represented the Chief Executive Officer, Philip Mshelbila, of the company, received the certificate at a handover ceremony recently in Abuja.
He said: “I also want to put on record our appreciation for the expedited issuance of the tax credit certificate. As you know, this tax credit is in relation to the Bonny-Bodo Road, which is itself, a landmark project and a pilot scheme in this initiative.
“This would be the first time the Island of Bonny will be linked by road to the rest of the country. And this is very significant to the development and advancement of the country because it will open new opportunities for economic activity.”
The Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme initiated under Executive Order 007, is a public-private partnership scheme that enables the Federal Government to leverage private sector capital and efficiency for construction, refurbishment and maintenance of critical road infrastructure in Nigeria.
Under the Scheme, participants are entitled to tax credits against their future Companies Income Tax equivalent to the cost incurred in the construction or refurbishment of eligible roads.
Dangote Industries, Unilever, Julius Berger, MTN, BUA Group of Companies, Access Bank, Transcorp, Lafarge, and GZI Industries have all taken advantage of the initiative.
