Edo State Internal Revenue Service (EIRS) led by it’s Executive Director, Tax Compliance, Emmanuel Okodugha/Executive Director, Income Tax, Charity Amayaenvbo, yesterday, led an enforcement team which implemented the new revenue scratch card payment method tagged ‘Operation Show Your Revenue Scratch Card and Receipt’.
The Executive Director, Tax Compliance, Emmanuel Okodugha speaking on the development stated that, the scratch card model was introduced to make tax payment in the informal and mobile sector particularly transport operators, easy and convenient. It is to also ensure compliance, especially since the enforcement activity was taking place on the first day of April, 2019, the beginning of a new month.
Though he accepted that there were some recalcitrant drivers, the ongoing enforcement exercise is meant to send a signal to those who hitherto had made up their mind’s not to comply.
The enforcement exercise which took place in designated routes/parks across the state capital and other municipal local government areas, was done in partnership with members of the National Union Of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), ANEWATT, Local government staff and law enforcement agents.
Against the prevailing backdrop in revenue collection, it should be noted that the EIRS had an interactive training session with Local government revenue collectors before now to guide them on their roles/guidelines for revenue collection through the use of scratch cards to boost revenue collection as well as straighten grey areas.
With this new method of revenue collection, commercial bus drivers are expected to buy scratch cards worth #800 daily with an additional #200 payment on any other Local government ventured into.
The EIRS Executive Director noted that the compliance and enforcement exercise is a continuous one.