FIRS Mandates Banks to Close Unauthorized Tax Collection Accounts
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has issued a directive requiring all Nigerian banks to identify and shut down any tax and levy collection accounts not authorized under the agency’s TaxPro Max system.
This new mandate was communicated through an official notice from FIRS Executive Chairman Zacch Adedeji, which was distributed to media outlets on Monday by his Special Adviser on Media, Dare Adekanmbi. The initiative is part of the agency’s broader strategy to strengthen transparency, accountability, and operational efficiency in Nigeria’s tax administration framework.
The FIRS announcement clarifies that all tax and levy collections must now be processed solely through the TaxPro Max platform—a digital solution implemented to centralize and automate tax administration processes nationwide.
In the notice, titled “Directive to Close Unauthorised FIRS Tax Collection Accounts,” the agency made it clear that any collection accounts operating outside the TaxPro Max ecosystem are deemed unauthorized and must be discontinued immediately.
The directive specifically states:
“Effective immediately, all tax and levy collections on behalf of FIRS must be processed exclusively under an assessment raised on the TaxPro Max platform.”
It further advises:
“All banks participating in the FIRS Collection, Remittance, and Reconciliation Scheme are hereby advised to comply with this directive within the stipulated period.”
The notice concludes:
“We count on your cooperation to ensure a smooth transition to this centralised system, thereby contributing to a more transparent and efficient tax collection process.”
The agency emphasized that participating financial institutions must only process transactions generated through TaxPro Max assessments. This approach aims to enable real-time reconciliation of collections, reduce revenue leakages, and support the agency’s digital transformation agenda.
News.ng reports that TaxPro Max represents a domestically developed, comprehensive digital tax administration solution designed to facilitate complete tax management activities. The platform supports functions including taxpayer registration, return filing, payment processing, automatic receipt issuance, and tax clearance certificate generation.
Since its implementation, TaxPro Max has become an essential component of FIRS’s modernization strategy, helping to minimize human intervention in tax processes while enhancing compliance ease for taxpayers.
By requiring exclusive utilization of this platform, FIRS seeks to eliminate the proliferation of multiple collection channels and standardize tax assessment, collection, and reconciliation procedures.
This directive requires banks to integrate their internal tax collection mechanisms with the TaxPro Max system to maintain regulatory compliance. Financial institutions failing to adhere to this requirement could face penalties or exclusion from future FIRS tax collection activities.
For taxpayers, this transition means all FIRS payments must now originate from assessments generated within the TaxPro Max portal. Any payments made through unauthorized channels or accounts will be considered invalid and may result in penalties.
To facilitate this transition, FIRS has encouraged both taxpayers and financial institutions seeking clarification to contact its Revenue Accounting and Refund Department (RAAD).
This directive represents a significant advancement in Nigeria’s efforts to strengthen tax collection processes and minimize unauthorized revenue leakages. It also demonstrates FIRS’s commitment to leveraging technological solutions to enhance transparency and accountability throughout the nation’s tax ecosystem.
