Ekiti State has emerged top in improved Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR) among the 36 states of the federation, according to a recent report released during the week.
In the report, circulated by the Joint Tax Board (JTB) at its 155th meeting at Zuma Rock Resort, Suleja, Niger State, Ekiti State ranked first in the 2023 yearly growth rate ranking with a revenue increase from ₦17.03 billion in 2022 to ₦29.82 billion in 2023, representing a 75 per cent growth rate.
The improvement is attributed to enhanced reporting and significant growth in IGR by the state. The obviously good performance of the governor, Biodun Oyebanji, is believed to have endeared him to tax-payers leading to improved voluntary compliance.
Ekiti State also moved up to 16th position in the Total Collections Ranking from its previous ranking of one of the worst five. Under the Direct Assessment Parametres, Ekiti State improved from 33rd to 15th position.
The state also ranked 25th in withholding tax collections and 28th in MDA collections. Chairman of Ekiti State Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Olanitan Olatona, while commenting on the development, said it is hoped that all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) will improve their collections and reporting to make their statistics better in the future.
Olatona said while the state government has not introduced any new taxes, it had effectively deployed technology to block leakages and ease the mode of payment.
The IRS boss said the state government intends to capture more citizens in the tax net through sundry empowerment programmes and job creation efforts of the government.
