JUST IN: Lagos Implements Digital Revenue Collection for Hotels and Restaurants

 The digitalization of the procedure for collecting the hotel occupancy and restaurant consumption taxes from owners of the state’s facilities—hotels and restaurants—has been announced by the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service.

In a press release made available to PUNCH on Monday, LIRS Executive Chairman Ayodele Subair stated that Lagos State’s public operators and owners of hotels, event centers, restaurants, bars, and other related facilities should be aware that the state’s new automated invoicing system, known as the Eco Fiscal System, is intended to completely transform the way consumption taxes are collected.

He emphasized that LIRS’s goal of making tax payment easier and tax law compliance easier is being advanced by the EFS evolution.

The statement read in part, “This technological advancement marks a significant leap in our continuous efforts to enhance revenue collection, streamline processes, and improve efficiency in tax administration. It simplifies compliance and improves accuracy.

“Traditionally, HORCT collection has been a tedious task for operators in the past; the manual process often led to errors, penalties, and increased costs.

“However, with LIRS’ cutting-edge software, businesses can now automate and digitize their invoicing and collection processes.

“Built with operators in this sector in mind, EFS offers real-time online consumption tax billing, collection monitoring, and instant issuance of receipts with a unique invoice number. It also reduces compliance costs, facilitates easy administration and reconciliation for HORCT collections, and fosters transparency,” it added.

Subair further affirmed that by adopting the EFS, businesses could ensure accurate calculations, eliminating the risk of mistakes associated with manual data entry, adding, “The system automatically applies relevant tax rates, saving businesses valuable time and resources. He added that the software provides secure and efficient record-keeping, simplifying audits and minimizing compliance risks.

“Our goal is to empower businesses with innovative solutions that enhance their operational efficiency and minimise compliance challenges. Businesses can focus on their core operations, leaving the complex task of tax compliance to our reliable and automated system.”

He also instructed all workers in the hospitality sector to accept the EFS while stressing that operations on the system become in effect proximately and failure to obey is a breach of the provisions in Sections 7(1), 8 and 9 of the Hotel Occupancy and Restaurant Consumption Fiscalization Regulation 2017 which attracts penalties as stipulated in Sections 11(2) of the HORC Law 2009.