OUR HISTORY
From tax office to autonomous revenue service
Revenue administration in the State is older than the State itself. This is how a colonial-era tax office became a Board of Internal Revenue, and how that Board became the autonomous, digitised Service that collects ₦58 billion a year.
Where it began
Direct taxation in this part of Northern Nigeria long predates the colonial administration. The kudin kasa and jangali levies collected by the Emirate administration were a functioning system of land and cattle taxation, assessed by ward heads who knew every household in their care, remitted upward through the district heads, and accounted for in the Emir’s treasury. When the colonial administration introduced the Native Revenue Proclamation of 1906 it did not invent taxation here; it grafted itself onto a system that already worked.
That inheritance still shapes how the Service operates. Our enumeration programme works through ward and district structures because those structures remain the most accurate map of economic activity in the State. What has changed is the record: what was once held in a ward head’s memory is now a geo-tagged capture in a register that the taxpayer can inspect.
Milestones
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1906
Native Revenue Proclamation
Colonial administration codifies the existing Emirate system of land and cattle tax into a written revenue ordinance, with Native Authority treasuries keeping the accounts.
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1961
Personal Income Tax comes to the regions
The Income Tax Management Act divides taxing rights between the Federal Government and the regions, giving the Northern Region responsibility for the personal income tax of its residents.
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1968
Kano State created
On the creation of Kano State, revenue functions previously exercised by the Northern Region are transferred to the new State Ministry of Finance, which sets up a small Internal Revenue Division.
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1978
State Board of Internal Revenue established
The Board is constituted under the Income Tax Management Act with a Chairman, a Secretary and representatives of Finance and Justice. Assessment moves out of the Ministry into a dedicated office.
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1993
PAYE brought under direct administration
Employer remittance schedules are centralised, ending the practice of ministries remitting employee tax directly to the Ministry of Finance without an assessment trail.
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1998
Taxes and Levies Act closes the list
The Taxes and Levies (Approved List for Collection) Act limits States to a defined list of taxes and levies. The Board begins the long work of retiring unauthorised charges.
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2004
First computerised taxpayer register
A standalone database replaces the assessment ledgers at head office. Area offices continue on paper; reconciliation between the two takes six weeks each month.
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2011
Revenue Administration Law and autonomy
The State Revenue Administration Law establishes the State Internal Revenue Service as an autonomous agency with its own board, its own establishment and a first line charge on cost of collection.
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2014
Treasury single account for revenue
More than 240 MDA collection accounts are closed and consolidated into a single revenue account, ending the practice of agencies holding collections before remittance.
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2017
Electronic receipting begins
The first electronic receipt is issued at Revenue House. Manual receipt booklets are progressively withdrawn from area offices over the following three years.
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2019
TIN harmonisation with the Joint Tax Board
The State taxpayer register is reconciled against the JTB national database, removing 214,000 duplicate records and linking taxpayer identity to BVN and NIN.
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2021
Motor Licensing Authority absorbed
Vehicle registration, plate allocation, roadworthiness and licence renewal are brought under the Service, ending a decade of split accountability with the Ministry of Works.
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2023
Enumeration exercise across twenty LGAs
A geo-tagged enumeration of premises and properties covers all twenty local government areas, adding 386,000 previously unregistered economic units to the register.
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2024
The IGR Platform goes live
Enumeration, registration, assessment, billing, collection, reconciliation and enforcement move onto a single platform, with self-service portals for taxpayers, employers and vehicle owners.
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2025
₦58.4 billion collected
Internally generated revenue reaches ₦58.4 billion, with 96 per cent of collections received through electronic channels and cost of collection down to 4.1 per cent.
Twelve years of internally generated revenue
Figures are as reported in the audited accounts of the State and in the Service’s annual reports.
| Year | IGR collected | Growth | Registered taxpayers | Cost of collection |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | ₦12.8 billion | — | 318,000 | 9.4% |
| 2016 | ₦16.1 billion | +12.1% | 402,000 | 8.8% |
| 2018 | ₦21.7 billion | +16.0% | 524,000 | 7.9% |
| 2020 | ₦24.9 billion | +4.1% | 651,000 | 7.2% |
| 2021 | ₦29.6 billion | +18.9% | 742,000 | 6.6% |
| 2022 | ₦34.2 billion | +15.5% | 881,000 | 6.0% |
| 2023 | ₦41.9 billion | +22.5% | 1,046,000 | 5.2% |
| 2024 | ₦49.7 billion | +18.6% | 1,238,000 | 4.6% |
| 2025 | ₦58.4 billion | +17.5% | 1,421,000 | 4.1% |
What changed, and why it mattered
Three reforms account for most of the growth in the table above, and none of them was a rate increase. The first was consolidation: closing 240-odd collection accounts and routing every naira through one account meant that money reached the treasury the day it was paid rather than weeks later, if at all.
The second was identity. Until the taxpayer register was reconciled against the Joint Tax Board database and linked to BVN and NIN, the same person could hold three taxpayer numbers and settle with whichever office asked least. Removing 214,000 duplicates shrank the register on paper and grew the revenue in fact.
The third was enumeration. Sending officers to walk wards with tablets, photograph premises and record coordinates produced something no desk exercise could: an evidence-based picture of economic activity. Assessments raised on that evidence are far harder to dispute and far easier to collect.
- 240 collection accounts consolidated into one treasury single account.
- 214,000 duplicate taxpayer records removed after JTB reconciliation.
- 386,000 new economic units added through geo-tagged enumeration.
- Cost of collection reduced from 9.4% to 4.1% in eleven years.
- Electronic collections up from 43% to 96% of total revenue.
Read the full record
Annual reports, audited revenue statements and the open data extracts behind every figure on this page.