The Katsina State Internal Revenue Service (KTIRS) has set a N40 billion Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) target for the 2024 fiscal year.

KTIRS chairman Isiyaku Muhammad stated this during a meeting with local council chairpersons and stakeholders on Tuesday in Katsina.

According to him, the meeting is part of Governor Dikko Radda’s efforts to improve revenue collection in Katsina.

Mr Muhammad said the measure would ensure the Katsina government could cover all its recurrent expenditure with the IGR without the federal allocation.

The government, he said, was worried about the current position of the state in terms of revenue generation nationwide.

“The state falls among the six states in the country that can not stand on its feet without the federal allocation. The situation is so disturbing. Many states that are beyond us in terms of IGR collection did not pass us in generating revenue, but the problem is how to collect and capture them in the records.

“The state lost 70 per cent of its revenues due to poor collection. We understand that it has been generating much IGR, but they have not been captured in the government records.

“Therefore, all measures will be put in place to ensure that in the 2024 report, Katsina state will occupy the fifth or sixth position in the country because we have all it takes,” said the KTIRS chairman.

Mr Muhammad said the Katsina government had introduced a point-of-sale (POS) device in tax collection to achieve the target.

According to him, local government revenue generation is classified as a third-party fund, adding the law indicates that only the board has the right to access them.

He said the law also indicated that no one has the right to collect tax or levy except the board.

The KTIRS chairman urged local councils, ministries, departments and agencies to cooperate with the board.

(NAN)