C'River: Speaker Assures IRS Of Effective Synergy To Boost IGR 

By Mark IDRAH 

  The Speaker of the Cross River House of Assembly, Rt Hon Elvert Ayambem has pledged the readiness of the House to collaborate with the state Internal Revenue Service in addressing factors behind revenue leakages in order to boost internal revenue profile of the state.

Ayambem gave the assurance when he played host to the management of the Cross River Internal Revenue Service, IRS, led by the Acting Chairman, Mr Edwin Okon during a courtesy visit.

He lamented the multiple leakages prevalence in the system with adverse effects on the state's revenue profile, noting that such persistent downward slide has spiral negative impact on the total allocation accruing to the state from federation account.

He frowned at multiple taxation arising duplication of functions by MDAs and called for streamlining of revenue collection schedule under the IRS to ensure accountability and efficiency.

Speaking earlier, the Acting Chairman of the IRS, Mr Edwin Okon sued for collaboration from major stakeholders to guarantee optimum performance by the Service and tackling of revenue leakages.

Mr Okon decried the proliferation of illegal revenue checkpoints around the state and solicited the cooperation of the Assembly and the Police to curb the menace which he noted impede free flow of commerce.

The IRS boss called on the House to amend absolute revenue laws such as Land Use Charges and Tourism Development Levy to reflect current realities