Electronic-Taxpay is an online self-service tax payment system which gives taxpayers the opportunity to pay their taxes through their banks’ online payment portals. It is an initiative of FIRS in collaboration with Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS). It is meant to facilitate payments of taxes from the comfort of taxpayers’ offices or homes. Taxpayers can pay using the electronic channels provided by their banks such as the banks’ internet banking platform, branches and mobile banking platforms.

CONDITIONS TO BE MET BY TAXPAYER BEFORE USING E-TAXPAY PLATFORM

Register and obtain your Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN)
Have an account with any bank of your choice and subscribe to the internet banking function of your bank.
Have sufficient funds in the account to cover the tax liability/transaction.

STEPS TO TAKE TO MAKE PAYMENT THROUGH E-TAXPAY PLATFORM

1. Having registered and received a TIN, an active internet banking account and sufficient funds, then;
2. Decide the channel to use;
3. If you decide on internet banking channel, log on to your bank’s internet banking platform e.g. GTBank Online Banking, FirstOnline, etc;
4. In the case of GTBank Online Banking, select the “Payment” option in the menu;
5. Then select “NIBSS E-Bills payments” under the “Payment” option;
6. Select the account to debit from, to continue;
7. Once inside the NIBSS E-Bills payments, select “New Request” to start a new payment.
8. This will take you to the NIBSS platform;
9. Then select “FIRS e-Taxpay” from the displayed list services that the NIBSS platform provides, in order to start the tax payment in particular;
10. You then enter your TIN (FIRS/JTB-TIN) or the TIN of the taxpayer you want to pay for;
11. Click “verify” to validate that the TIN belongs to the taxpayer making the payment;
12. A pop-up will appear with the TIN details. If ok, then go to the next stage;
13. Select the tax type (e.g. Company Income Tax, Pre-Operation Levy, Value Added Tax, etc.);
14. Enter the amount to be debited (tax sum being paid);
15. Accept service charge for the bank (if applicable);
16. Confirm that all the information provided are correct and valid;
17. Submit the request.

After a successful transaction, the system will generate an ‘e-acknowledgement’ which can be printed online, or sent to a specified e-mail address. The ‘e-acknowledgement’ is a confirmation of the transaction of payment of tax to FIRS which would be presented to FIRS field office for the issuance of statutory FIRS receipt to the taxpayer.
A TAXPAYER SHOULD PLEASE ENSURE THE ‘e-acknowledgement’ IS SUBMITTED TO THE TAX OFFICE OF DOMICILE TO GET A GOVERNMENT TAX RECEIPT FOR THE PAYMENT MADE.[i][/i]

Real time notifications: The platform also notifies the taxpayer and FIRS through SMS alert and real time email. FIRS can view payment transactions and reports online, in real time.

TAX TYPES THAT CAN BE PAID USING THE E-TAXPAY CHANNEL:

e-Taxpay can be used to pay all tax types and levies collected by FIRS. They include:

1. Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT)
2. Education Tax (ET)
3. Companies Income Tax (CIT)
4. Value Added Tax (VAT)
5. Personal Income Tax (PAYE for residents of FCT and non-Residents)
6. Withholding Tax (WHT). This requires a schedule to be uploaded on the platform;
7. National Information Technology Development Fund Levy (NITDEF)
8. Capital Gains Tax (CGT)
9. Pre-Operation Levy (POL)
10. Stamp Duties (SD) and late filing penalty

FAQS (FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS) ON THE USE OF THE FIRS E-TAX PAY SOLUTION

What is the FIRS E-Tax Pay Solution?
Answer: The FIRS E-Tax Pay is an acronym for FIRS Electronic Tax Payment Solution.

What is the specific function of the E-Tax Pay?
Answer: The FIRS E-Tax Pay is an electronic tax payment platform that enables individual and corporate taxpayers effect tax payments via their respective bank accounts using self- service channels provided by any Nigerian Bank. It is based on the recipient’s account and would place a debit on the recipient’s account while applying the credit to FIRS CBN’s account real-time.

How does the e-tax pay solution work?
Answer: The e-tax pay solution is hosted on the internet banking platform and bank branches of commercial banks and will be available to any taxpayer who has access to the internet via PC, or handheld devices such as mobile phones. It will enable the bank customers who are registered for internet banking make their tax payments online and also via bank branches.

Will a taxpayer be charged for using the e-tax pay solution?
Answer: No, there is no additional cost to the taxpayer for using the e-tax pay internet banking solution. Only the normal bank charges such as Commission- On -Turnover agreed between the customer and the bank would apply.

What is the specific requirement of a potential taxpayer to use the e-tax pay solution?
Answer: Taxpayers that intend to use the e-tax pay solution must have registered and obtained a valid TIN (Taxpayer Identification Number) from any FIRS or JTB office and would have done their respective self-assessment in order to use the e-tax pay to pay their tax liabilities. The e-tax pay solution prompts for a valid TIN upon Login and performs a system validation with the TIN before populating with the taxpayer’s records.

Can a taxpayer use the e-tax pay to pay all FIRS taxes?
Answer: Yes, the e-tax pay can be used to pay all FIRS taxes. It has a drop down menu list showing all FIRS taxes. The taxpayer simply has to select the tax type he intends to make payment for.

Would a taxpayer receive confirmation if the transaction is successful?
Answer: Yes, the taxpayer would receive a confirmation that the payment is successful and a system generated reference ID would be issued. The system would also generate an e-acknowledgement confirmation to the taxpayer which he can use to obtain his tax payment receipt/credit notes from FIRS office.

Does the e-tax pay solution send notification?
Answer: Yes, the system would send an e-notification immediately the transaction is successful. The taxpayer would also receive a debit notification via email and SMS from his bank confirming the payment.

Can taxpayers use the FIRS e-tax pay solution to make tax payments online now?
Answer: Yes. The solution has been implemented in all commercial banks. All bank customers that have their valid i-banking tokens and have registered for i-banking can access the e-tax pay under their internet banking menu under the NIBSS ‘e-billspay’ service and select FIRS e-tax pay as their tax payment channel and follow the prompts towards making the payment. They also have to have valid TINs.

What are the specific self-service payment channels under the FIRS e-tax pay solution?
Answer: The specific channels wherein a taxpayer can make payments are: internet/online banking, mobile banking and bank branches. For internet and mobile banking platforms, a taxpayer can access these self-service channels using PCs, Laptops, notebooks, smart handheld devices and mobile phones.

http://nigeriaconsumers.com/blog/tax-epayment/

This is good Information. Could this be the reason why VAT is about to be increased to 10%?