By Nathaniel Zacchaeus, Abuja
Yesterday, the Senate passed N446,342,656,992.00 as the 2024 Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) budget.
The development followed the adoption and approval of its Committee on Finance recommendation, which considered the budget.
The Chairman of the Committee, Senator Sani Musa (APC – Niger East) presented the report.
Out of the total sum, N177,441,479,682.00 is for Personnel Costs, N156,454,385,053.00 is for Overhead costs, and N112,446,822,255.00 is for capital expenditures.
Part of the report read, “The Service Year 2024 budget estimates are based on Zero Based Budgeting.
“The 2024 projected Cost of Collection of N446.34bn is 39% higher than the 2023 approved budgeted cost of collection, which stood at N320.90bn.
“The personnel cost is based on staff strength on the payroll, including social benefits (such as NHIA, Pension contribution, etc.) and anticipated yearly performance bonus.
“The increase in overhead projection can be attributed to the need for more robust operational activities that are critical in driving the achievement of service core objectives, e.g., tax automation projects and other critical ones that relate directly to tax collection and administration.
“The capital cost estimates include ongoing and new projects to be executed during the 2024 financial year. These are due to the expected completion of projects, payment of retention on completed projects, and some new projects for an effective revenue drive.”
