The Federal Inland Revenue Service started as part of a colonial tax organisation under the name Inland Revenue Department of Anglophone West Africa. The department’s scope of administration covered Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and the Gambia
In 1943, the Nigerian Inland Revenue Department was carved out of the Inland Revenue Department of Anglophone West Africa and established as an autonomous body under the supervision of the Commissioner of Income Tax. The Nigerian Inland Revenue Department consisted of :
The Resident
Chiefs and elders in each district
Any native authority, which by native law and custom was recognized as a tax collection authority Â
Any native council or group of persons appointed by the Governor