A financial technology expert, Akin Oluseun says the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) under the just ousted Chairman, Babatunde Fowler was retrogressive.

Oluseun said things really fell apart under him and he was applying crude means to raise revenue.

The appointment of Babatunde Fowler as the chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service(FIRS) was not renewed by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Instead, he named a new person, Muhammad M. Nami, as Fowler’s successor.

Fowler’s tenure expired today 9 December, but a statement by the Presidency said he is expected to hand over to the most senior director on the board, who will take charge, pending the Senate confirmation of the new board.

The financial expert said this in a series of tweets on his official twitter handle.

Oluseun said Fowler instituted an ever corrupt tax audit system by using Tax Consultants mostly owned by politicians as a way of payback for supporting the govt.

See his tweets below…

My thoughts on Fowler’s tenure as FIRS Chairman. Many think he did well, while some thinks he didn’t. I personally think the FIRS was retrogressive under him and that’s my personal opinion. Things really fell apart and he was applying crude means to raise revenue.

He was appointed 4 years ago because the Presidency was desperate for higher revenue , and thought due to his “stellar” performance raising revenue in Lagos , he should be a good candidate.

However, State taxes is totally different from taxes administered by FIRS. It was just Personal Income Tax whose burden is felt by employees but employers have a responsibility to withhold at source, so employers were willing to do anything Fowler wanted whether legal or not.

Fowler was almost harassing and forcing people to pay taxes and any small thing, he usually sends letter of distrain to employers and everyone tries to comply. He was great at LIRS as a tax collector but was never a good tax administrator. There was no fairness on many things.

READ MORE: https://thebelltimesng.com/2019/12/12/fowler-firs-was-retrogressive-says-fintech-expert/