Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, Mr Zacch Adedeji, on Wednesday called for a synergy between the service and the Economic Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
He noted that such synergy would help in tracking and reporting local and trans-border financial transactions of companies, multinationals and high-net-worth individuals.
According to his media aide, Dare Adekanmbi, the FIRS Chairman made the call when he paid a courtesy visit to the EFCC chairman, Mr Ola Olukoyede, at his office in Abuja.
The FIRS chairman noted that the collaboration was necessary as socio-economic activities “are speedily transcending from bricks-and-mortar to a digital and knowledge-driven economy”.
He revealed that FIRS depends mostly on third-party data, information and intelligence from sister agencies such as the EFCC to track transactions.
“We could also benefit from joint training and capacity-building programmes to enhance the skills of both FIRS and EFCC personnel in detecting and addressing financial crimes related to tax evasion”, he added.
Reacting, Olukoyede thanked the FIRS boss, assuring that the existing relationship between the two financial agencies would be sustained.
He, however, called for a review of the memorandum of understanding between the two agencies concerning operations in units such as the tax fraud section and joint tax force.
