The Cross River State Internal Revenue Service (CRIRS) says it is targeting over N60 billion from internally generated revenue in 2026 through the new tax law.

The executive chairman, Edwin Okon, stated this at a two-day revenue strategy workshop organised by the service in Calabar on Thursday.

He said that CRIRS would achieve the target through improved strategies in the implementation of the new tax law.

The workshop is titled, “Growing Cross River Revenue: Building Investor’s Confidence And Leveraging Gains of the New Tax Law.”

Recall that the new National Tax Act was signed into law in June 2025 by President Bola Tinubu to overhaul the country’s tax system and increase government revenue.

Mr Okon said that the workshop aimed to review the agency’s performance in 2025 and outline new approaches for implementing the new national tax law.

The CRIRS official stated that 2026 marked the first full implementation year of the new law, noting that operational reviews were required to identify potential revenue losses and emerging opportunities.

According to him, CRIRS is analysing areas where tax revenues may decline while exploring new provisions in the law to expand revenue generation.

He stated, “The state’s internally generated revenue rose from about N20 billion in 2022 to nearly N60 billion at the end of 2025.

“This growth can be attributed to the reforms introduced by the Governor Bassey Otu-led administration such as automation and improved revenue collection strategies.”

The executive chairman said that the service was working towards a monthly revenue generation of about N10 billion as the reforms continued to deepen.

He added that public awareness remained critical to the successful implementation of the new tax law across the state.

Mr Okon said that the service had nominated 196 representatives across the wards for effective sensitisation to the law.

“These representatives were trained across the three senatorial districts to educate residents, market groups and community leaders to effectively understand the new tax law,” he stated.

Also speaking, the chief executive officer of the Cross River Planning Commission, Bong Duke, emphasised the importance of revenue generation to development planning.

Mr Duke said that predictable and transparent tax systems were essential to building investor confidence and improving the ease of doing business in the state.

He urged revenue officials to view tax administration as a partnership with business outfits because sustainable revenue growth was critical to infrastructure and economic development. 

(NAN)