The Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service (KDIRS) has commended taxpayers for utilising its online platforms to file their tax returns and conduct other tax businesses during COVID-19 lockdown in the state.
The Executive Chairman of the agency, Dr Zaid Abubakar, gave the commendation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna on Wednesday.
The agency had in April advised taxpayers in the state to utilise its e-tax platforms to file their tax returns, process vehicle particulars and purchase number plates.
Abubakar said: “We directed taxpayers to use our online platforms for filing and payment of taxes and they obliged. That is what kept the revenue coming in during the lockdown period.
“I am particularly impressed with the response of vehicle owners who massively use the platforms to renew their vehicle licence and purchase number plates.”
He further said that the formal sector equally responded by filing their tax returns and made necessary tax payment and other businesses online during the lockdown.
According to him, the revenue service will aggressively promote the use of the various online platforms introduced by the agency for payment of tax and related businesses.
The executive chairman said: “We are currently working on making the sites user friendly by reducing long processes and improving feedback to ensure user satisfaction.
“The Coronavirus pandemic has increased traffic on the platforms, therefore, giving us the opportunity to see the challenges taxpayers are facing and address them accordingly.
“We are hoping that by the end of July, there is going to be seamless experience in all our e-platforms by easing the processes of paying tax online as one-stop shop for all tax transactions.
“We will reduce a lot of steps to make the online platforms more attractive, convenient and cost effective.”
NAN also reports that the agency had on April 9, announced the extension of the deadline for the filling of 2019 tax returns by two months: from March 30 to May 31, following COVID-19 lockdown.
The agency had explained that taxpayers who paid within the extended period were entitled to 1.0 per cent refund on total annual tax payable to the state, while penalty and interest shall not accrue.
Abubakar said that the agency had concluded plans to also extend the gesture by adding amnesty to it, saying the measure was parts of KADIRS incentives to taxpayers to cushion the effects of COVID-19.
“We have written to the Executive Council for ratification and we will make the details public as soon as we get response from the council,” he said. (NAN)
