Taxes & Tariffs | |
Taxes & Tariffs | |
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Thursday, September 13, 2018/01.58PM/Deloitte
Federal Inland Revenue Service
(FIRS) convened a stakeholders meeting on 6 September 2018, with key
participants from different sectors of the economy in attendance. The Executive
Chairman of FIRS was present to enlighten stakeholders, as well as answer
questions and address comments from the audience.
The key issues discussed include:
·
Reconciliation of withholding tax (WHT) credit: FIRS
recently circularised taxpayers, inviting them to reconcile their WHT position
by 30 August 2018. Companies that were unable to complete the reconciliation by
the set date, stood the risk of losing any unutilised WHT credit. Please
see link to our
initial alert on this.
The
Executive Chairman gave the audience the comfort that taxpayers will not
necessarily lose their unutilised WHT credit if they were unable to complete
the reconciliation process within the short period allowed. He however
encouraged taxpayers to commence the reconciliation process as quickly as
possible for ease of administration.
·
Letters of substitution issued by FIRS to Nigerian
banks: FIRS recently circularised some banks to recover unpaid taxes from
taxpayers that maintain bank accounts with such banks. Following the
circularisation, there have been reported cases of some banks freezing the bank
accounts of taxpayers. Please see link to our
initial alert on this issue.
In
response to the queries raised by stakeholders, the Executive Chairman
clarified that FIRS directed the order at only defaulting and unregistered
taxpayers (after conducting a thorough review of banks’ records to identify
erring or seemingly erring taxpayers). FIRS considered the banking turnover of
such companies their “deemed income” and levied tax thereon.
In addition,
the Executive Chairman mentioned FIRS intends to increase the drive in its
quest to capture more taxpayers and collect unremitted taxes. One of the major
ways FIRS hopes to achieve this is by assessing companies to income tax based
on deemed profits, which is determined by reference to the value of
property(ies) owned by such companies.
·
Improved efficiency: the
Executive Chairman assured stakeholders of the commitment of FIRS and its
counterparts in various states, towards improved efficiencies especially with
regard to issuance of Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC). In this regard, the
Executive Chairman advised taxpayers to reach out to the ‘Efficiency Desk’ of
FIRS to make complaints in the event that relevant tax offices failed to issue
TCCs in accordance with the provision of the tax law within the requisite
period. This also applies to other complaints on perceived inefficiencies in
the agency’s operations. All complaints can be directed to helpdesk@firs.gov.ng.
·
Annual passage of tax bills: The
Executive Chairman confirmed the willingness of the Federal Government of Nigeria
to pass amendments to tax laws on annual basis. The intent is to merge the
amendments/revisions with the relevant Appropriation Bill for the relevant
fiscal year.
Related News
1. Nigeria Releases Revised Transfer Pricing Regulation
2. MTN Says Nigeria Is Seeking to Recover $2 Billion in Back Taxes
3. FIRS Publishes Nigeria’s Revised Transfer Pricing Regulations
4. Are We Jumping The Tax Gun? FIRS Freezing Order Explained
5. FIRS Appoints Banks As Agents Of Collection Of Outstanding Taxes From
Tax Defaulters’ Accounts
6. Loss of WHT Credit Looms as FIRS Mandates Reconciliation of WHT Credit
Position in 15 Days