The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has initiated the implementation of the Integrated Market Revenue Management System (IMRMS), a purpose-built digital platform designed to bring informal sector traders, especially market traders, into the federal government’s tax net.
In collaboration with the Market Traders Association of Nigeria (MATAN), the FIRS aims to collect and remit Value Added Tax (VAT) from market traders using the IMRMS platform, a venture known as the VAT Direct Initiative (VDI). This initiative is part of the government’s broader strategy to broaden its tax base.
MATAN, representing over 40 million traders across Nigeria, will digitally enumerate its members, providing them with a digital identity and tracking their turnover to ensure the collection and remittance of accrued VAT to the FIRS.
The FIRS anticipates that this collaboration will address issues related to multiple taxation in the marketplace by partnering with security agencies to curb the activities of unauthorized tax collectors. The initiative is expected to provide the government with coordinated access to nearly 70% of untaxed revenue in the informal sector.
Adebayo Adefeogbe, a director at the FIRS, emphasized that collecting VAT from over 40 million traders would enable the government to improve basic amenities in marketplaces nationwide. The FIRS aims to work collaboratively to eliminate illegal tax collection by touts, miscreants, and unauthorized tax collectors in Nigeria’s market spaces.
Moses Ige, MATAN National Coordinator of Incentives, encouraged market leaders to sensitize members about the VAT Direct Initiative (VDI). He outlined the benefits of the initiative for registered traders, including health insurance, micro pension, general insurance cover, low-interest and non-collateralized business loans and grants, provision of social amenities in marketplaces, and free legal services.
Registered traders are expected to enjoy services such as health insurance schemes, insurance cover for losses due to disasters, access to loans, micro-pension schemes, and more. The partnership with the Bank of Industry (BOI) aims to ensure that small business owners have access to loans. The VAT Direct Initiative is expected to boost government revenue for executing capital projects in markets across the country.
