The Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Dr. Zacch Adedeji, has met with Amelie Verdier, the Director General of Public Finance at France’s Direction Générale des Finances Publiques (DGFiP), and a delegation from the Kingdom of the Netherlands led by Ambassador Bengt Van Loosdrecht.
While the FIRS chief executive met with the Netherlands officials in Abuja on Monday, he received the French delegation on Tuesday.
The visit by the French official marks an important milestone in the growing partnership between Nigeria and France in tax administration.
DGFiP is responsible for tax policy implementation, tax collection, public accounting, and financial management for the government and local authorities in France
FIRS in a statement on its official Facebook page said the meeting between the two heads of the countries’ tax agencies and Netherlands coincids with a pivotal transition in Nigeria’s tax system from the FIRS to the newly established Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) as part of a broader institutional reform anchored in the new Finance and Revenue laws.
The Nigerian top tax agency explained that the meeting underscored FIRS’s commitment to building a data-driven, service-oriented revenue institution and learning from international best practices such as those of DGFIP.
“It also highlighted the importance of technical cooperation, digital innovation, and mutual respect in achieving more inclusive, efficient, and globally aligned tax systems.
According to the statement, “The visit reinforced the strategic shift from FIRS to the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), signaling a broader institutional reform in tax administration and a show of commitment to building a modern, data-driven, and service-oriented revenue institution to meet dynamic economic challenges.
FIRS also said that the meeting with the French Public Finance chief executive and his team is in recognition of the DGFIP’s expertise in risk-based compliance, digital taxation, and taxpayer education as a model for reform.
The visit also helps to strengthen diplomatic ties and technical cooperation through initiatives led by the French Embassy in Nigeria, and agreement on future collaboration in areas such as joint training, digital tax tools, green taxation, and French language capacity development.
The visit by the Netherlands officials signaled renewed international confidence in Nigeria, following the bold fiscal and tax reforms introduced through the recently signed Tax Bills by President Bola Tinubu.
Central to the visit was the renegotiation of the Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) between both countries, a move consistent with the push for greater tax transparency, fairness, and alignment with global standards to tackle Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS).
Highlights of the Netherlands visit were the renegotiation of the Double Taxation Agreement between Nigeria and the Netherlands, commitment from both countries to strengthen longstanding diplomatic and economic ties, and an agreement that ensures tax certainty and prevents double taxation for individuals and businesses operating across both nations
FIRS said the partnerships align with global best practices for modern, transparent tax systems as outdated agreements are rendered obsolete by global BEPS actions and support the fiscal policy goals of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s reform agenda as well as negotiation process for mutually beneficial collaboration.
