By Mustapha Salisu
The Tax Justice and Governance Platform in its efforts to strengthen transparency and accountability in tax administration has conducted a performance review with officials of the Kano State Internal Revenue Service (KIRS) on the Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) systems in the State.
The exercise held on Friday at the Revenue house, according to the Program Lead of Tax Justice, Kano Chapter, Sadiq Muhammad Mustapha is geared towards monitoring performance indicators, assessing number of complaints against the ones that were addressed earlier and updated to the GRM- Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
Sadiq stated that the GRM framework was developed to create a formal process for collecting and addressing taxpayers’ concerns while keeping them informed with relevant updates.
“Traditionally, the Taxpayers Service Unit handled such issues, but with the introduction of the GRM, all inquiries or complaints will now be systematically collected, assigned, resolved, and responded to,” he said, noting that the mechanism promotes a healthy and trustworthy relationship between taxpayers and tax authorities.
He further disclosed that periodic reviews of the GRM is conducted quarterly to evaluate its performance and identify areas for improvement ahead of subsequent assessments.
In his remarks, the Head of the Taxpayers Service Unit at KIRS, Mallam Rislan Mukhtar, commended Tax Justice for the initiative, emphasizing that resolving taxpayer grievances gives him a sense of fulfillment.
“There is nothing more satisfying than receiving and resolving grievances from taxpayers,” he said, adding that individuals with proper knowledge of the GRM can effectively guide taxpayers and help them avoid falling into the wrong hands.