Edo Deploys Big Data In Tax Administration, As Monthly IGR Climbs To N2.8bn

The Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration in Edo State has deployed Big Data in optimizing tax administration, leading to the increase of individual data capture of taxpayers from 160,000 in 2017 to 519,543 as at May 2021.

The state’s monthly Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) stands at N2.8bn from N1.6bn in 2017. The state now ranks second beyond Lagos State in total number of taxpayers with Tax Identification Number (TIN).

Executive Chairman of Edo State Internal Revenue Service (EIRS), Nidu Inneh disclosed this in a paper titled, ‘Taxation, rule of law and voluntary compliance: role of the Nigerian Bar Association,’ presented during the NBA Law Week 2021, in Benin City.

According to him, “Our individual data capture has grown from 160,000 in 2017 to 519,453. Edo ranks 2nd behind Lagos in total number of taxpayers with TIN.

“The Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in the state has grown from pre-2017 Five Year Monthly Average of N1.6 billion to Q1 2021 monthly average of N2.8 billion”

Inneh noted that in an effort to clean up the tax data, the service had to contend with massive leakage of revenues arising from non-collection and suppression of cash collections by appointed collectors across the state as well as illegal collections and inefficient collection system.

He said the service deployed innovative approaches “to reform the system so as to ensure value for money, drive enlightenment and social inclusion, deploy novel technology, guarantee a conducive legal and regulatory environment, prioritize use of data and develop requisite human capacity to drive the new system.”