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Amsterdam police were holding eight Lille fans on Wednesday, a day after arresting more than 300 supporters of the French club ahead of its Champions League game against Ajax. The other supporters, arrested after flares were set off at a metro station and fans walked along train lines, were all released overnight, police in the Dutch capital said. “Eight French supporters have been placed in formal detention. They are suspected of violence in a public place at Strandvliet metro station,” Amsterdam police said on Twitter. The violence erupted hours ahead of the match at the Johan Cruyff Arena, which Ajax won 3-0 to go top of Group H. Supporters were forced to halt rail traffic and evacuate two stations for a short while, the ANP national news agency reported. According to Lille, fans were peacefully heading to the match when a handful of supporters launched flares on the metro, causing them to stop, after which police arrested the troublemakers and everyone else. “Obviously the club condemns any bad behaviour and any form of violence,” Lille president Gerard Lopez told AFP, adding that Lille was “in touch with the Dutch police”. Around 3,000 fans made the short trip from Lille to Amsterdam to watch their team start their first Champions League campaign in seven years against the side that made it to the semi-finals last season.

Source: punch

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Polaris Bank Limited, which was formerly operating as Skye Bank Plc, has won its case against the Abia State Government over a N1.528 billion tax assessment disagreement brought before a tax appeal tribunal sitting in Enugu State.
The lender had taken the Abia State Board of Internal Revenue to the tribunal, seeking to determine if the agency followed due process provided in tax laws and regulations in dealing with it. According to Polaris Bank, it wanted to know if the state government was entitled to collect development levy and business premises levy without enabling state’s laws and whether the tax agency was entitled to collect penalty and interest based on any of the notices it served. After listening to the arguments of the parties, Chairman of the appeal tribunal, Mr Chukwuemeka Eze, said, “From the foregoing, the tribunal resolves all the issues in favour of appellant and consequently granted reliefs 1 to 6 of the appellant.” On issue six, the appeal tribunal said from its decision of June 20, 2019 in Nigeria Breweries PLC V. Abia State Board of Internal Revenue, the notice and grounds of appeal by the respondent were competent. He noted that one of the takeaways from that decision is that the respondent is a juristic person. He, however, advised tax payers not to wait for a tax audit before discovering and paying monies under remitted. Mr Eze also said that a tax authority does not impose tax, but tax legislations; while a tax authority collects as stipulated in section 1 of PITA. “You should be mindful of how your approach to tax issues will impact on investment in your State. Giving a taxpayer 48 hours or 7 days or any other period less than what the statute provides and changing assessment figures like the colour of a chameleon reduces the confidence of the taxpayer in the tax system. “There is need to adhere to the provisions of PITA and relevant regulations in your dealing with taxpayers,” the tribunal chief said.

Source: Business post

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The culprits, Atime Orlu, Terhide Kumbul and Mzehemen Jaga were arrested at Luga in Gboko, near Tyogbenda Msa, in Ushongo and Awajir in Konshisha respectively. In furtherance of its resolve to eradicate illegal tax points, the Benue state special taskforce on illegal road blocks in collaboration with the Benue state police command, has arrested three persons.
The culprits, Atime Orlu, Terhide Kumbul and Mzehemen Jaga were arrested at Luga in Gboko, near Tyogbenda Msa, in Ushongo and Awajir in Konshisha respectively. They were caught operating illegal tax points and extorting the unsuspecting public. They will be charged to court today Monday, 2nd Sept. 2019. It could be recalled that Executive Chairman Benue Internal Revenue Service (BIRS) Mr. Andrew Ayabam had on assumption of office announced a clamp down on all illegal tax points and activities in the state towards sanitizing the tax system.
Meanwhile it has further maintained that there exist only 10 tax points in the state, namely:
Zaki Biam Inspection Point-Ukum LGA
Katsina-Ala Head Bridge Inspection Point – Katsina Ala LGA
Branch Atser Inspection Point – Vandeikya LGA
North Bank Inspection Point- Makurdi LGA
Ade-Igwu, Ogbadibo Inspection Point- Ogbadibo LGA
Achoho Inspection Point- Konshisha LGA
Adoka Inspection Point- Otukpo LGA
Ogobia Inspection Point- Otukpo LGA
TyogbendaMsa Inspection Point- Ushongo LGA
Naka Inspection Point- Gwer-West LGA

Source: Lasgidi Online

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Neymar has had his European suspension reduced from three matches to two on appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The ban, extending across all UEFA competitions, was imposed upon the Paris Saint-Germain forward following his foul-mouthed Instagram outburst about the match officials who presided over the club’s Champions League loss to Manchester United in March. Neymar was upset with the awarding of a late penalty in the second-leg meeting at Parc des Princes, which knocked PSG out of the competition at the last-16 stage. “This is a disgrace, they put four people that know nothing about football in charge of looking at the replay for VAR,” he wrote at the time. “There is no penalty. How can it be a handball when it hits his back! Go f*** yourselves!” Neymar’s initial appeal was rejected by UEFA in June but CAS has seen fit to lower the ban to two European games, the smallest possible sanction under the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations. The decision means the Brazil international will be eligible to feature in the Champions League trip to Club Brugge on October 22, PSG’s third Group A fixture.

Source: Punch

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In a bid to widen the tax net and upscale Nigeria’s revenue, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has come up with policies that would aid in fishing out companies and individuals that have over time defaulted in paying taxes. That was after the tax authority on Tuesday disclosed it has developed a common tax identity and it’s working closely with banks operating in the country in line with its statutory powers to ensure that tax evaders comply.
“We are working in synergy with the banks at the moment and at present, we have access to everybody’s account, so there is no hiding place for tax evaders in the country. All we need to do is request information about any individual or company and we will get it,” said Ikechukwu Odume, FIRS General Counsel. Odume, who made this disclosure at the sideline of the ongoing 2019 Annual Conference organized by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Lagos, also noted that in other to drive full compliance, the FIRS developed and launched the Common National Tax Identity. “With the click of a button, we can have the tax number of every person so if you say you pay taxes we would know,” Ndume told Businessday. Africa’s largest economy, with a gross domestic product of $380.85 billion, has Tax-to-gdp ratio of 5.6 percent, one of the lowest in the continent, according to data from World Bank. Tax-to-gdp ratio in Algeria, South Africa, Morocco, Angola, Kenya and Egypt currently stands at 34.75; 26.80; 21.35; 19.25; 18 and 15.20 percent, respectively. In a show of dire need for revenue to fund the budget, the federal government through the Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, queried the FIRS Boss, Babatunde Fowler, to provide explanation on the widening variance between actual revenue and budgeted from 2015 to 2018. In 2015, actual revenue collection by the agency was N3.7 trillion, compared with a budgeted target of N4.5 trillion, set by the federal government for the tax regulator. A similar shortfall occurred in 2016, when actual collection was N3.307 trillion, less than the N4.95 trillion targeted in the budget. Also, in 2017, the FIRS collected a total of N4.027 trillion, less than the set target of N4.89 trillion and in 2018, actual collection was N5.3 trillion, while the budgeted target was N6,7 trillion In response to the query, Fowler blamed the shortfall in actual revenue to dwindling economic activities from the fall out of a global collapse in crude oil prices that submerged the country’s economy into five quarters of negative contraction. To shore up revenue, the tax regulatory agency embarked on several aggressive strategies within is purview including placing a “lien” in the form of suspension on the bank account of defaulting tax payers. The FIRS released a public memo naming over 20,000 businesses that are yet to remit taxes into its coffers. It has also announced plans of taking a 5 percent Value Added Taxes (VAT) on all purchases done online from 1st January 2020. In response to controversy on how the tax regulator plans on axing online savvy customers, Nudume affirmed that the 5 percent would be collected directly from the bank accounts of the users differently from the VAT already charged by the ecommerce firm. “What we are trying to achieve for the online transaction is equity in tax. So, whether you buy goods online or physically, you will pay VAT,” Udeme said in an exclusive interview with Businessday. He noted that the FIRS was building a network of collaboration with the various tax authorities at the state level so there could be some kind of interchange of information on people paying tax so as to eliminate he issues of multiplicity of taxes. The collaboration between both arms have also resulted in the establishment of a Joint Tax Audit (JTA), where the federal and the state government tax authority, come together to audit companies, Udeme noted “We can know what is happening in states across the federation. For example, a company in Lagos may have employees in Ogun state and should pay tax in Ogun state but they work in Lagos. With the JTA, we should be able to ascertain how many of these companies’ tax should go to Ogun state, Lagos state and those that should go to the FIRS,” he said. According to Udeme, the FIRS has also come up with a National Tax Policy, that would help in driving he vision of the agency and remove every bottleneck hindering effective tax payment by taxpayers. For the agency, the National Tax Policy is the spirit that drives tax laws and reforms as it helps in detecting where tax is going, the things that the agency want in the tax, avoiding multiple taxation, efficiency in tax administration so that each government looks at it as a guide towards the laws that they are making. At the conference, Udeme urged lawyers on the need to buy into tax laws as they should be the ones driving tax reforms in the country. The FIRS representative expressed dissatisfaction, noting that over time, judges have a major impediment to the agency’s efforts in tax collection in the country as many of them fail to intensively study tax laws. He explained that the FIRS has shown enough empathy in tax collection if the powers given to the agency is anything to consider.

Source: Business day

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Andersen Tax, a renowned tax advisory and regulatory services firm has noted some implications of the recent notice issued by Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on taxability of certain compensation payments.
On 14 August 2019, the FIRS issued a Public Notice on deduction of tax at source from compensations paid to agents by principal companies. The notice directs companies to deduct and remit Withholding Tax (WHT) and Value Added Tax (VAT) on compensations such as commissions and rebates, which are due to their distributors and customers. According to, Andersen Tax, “This notice implies that companies are to subject all forms of compensation payments including commissions and rebates granted to dealers, agents, distributors and general customers to WHT and VAT and remit same to the FIRS. The notice has some far-reaching implications especially for companies in the FMCG sector.” “The FIRS’ directive to companies to deduct VAT at source is not in line with the express provisions of the VAT Act. Except for transactions with non-resident companies or transactions with companies in the oil and gas sector, companies are not ordinarily required to deduct VAT at source under the existing VAT Act,” it added. Andersen Tax further stated that, “The applicability of VAT on rebates and discounts issued to distributors and customers remains a contentious issue given that they do not necessarily constitute income/ revenue in the hands of the companies that enjoy it. Thus, the requirement to account for VAT and WHT on compensation payments and sales- incentives is unclear because giving a blanket directive without specifics as to the practical application of VAT and WHT on such category of transaction simply creates more ambiguities.” Based on the above, they expect the FIRS to issue further guidance to provide additional clarity on the public notice. According to the FIRS, the issuance of the PN is aimed at providing guidance to the public and in particular, taxpayers and advisers on WHT and VAT, which is deductible from the compensations or commissions due to distributors, agents and customers. In the notice, the FIRS stated that compensations and commissions earned by distributors/ dealers are to be subjected to VAT and WHT. According to the PN, its position is based on its Information Circular No. 2006/02 issued in February, 2006 and the Companies Income Tax Act (Rates, Etc. Deduction at Source (Withholding Tax) Regulations. The FIRS, however, stated that a number of companies have failed to deduct WHT and VAT from such compensations and commissions. The notice further requires companies (specifically those in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Sector) to apply WHT and VAT on any compensation due to their distributors and customers. The FIRS stated that the duty to deduct and remit WHT or VAT will not be affected by the mode of payment (i.e. cash, credit notes, goods-in-trade or any other means payable). Based on the PN, such WHT/VAT must be charged at the appropriate rate and remitted to the FIRS on or before the 21st of every month. The FIRS further stated that it will commence the monitoring of compliance on relevant companies/transactions.

Source: Business day

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The revenue generated from Value Added Tax (VAT) in the second quarter of 2019 (Q2’19) rose by 17 percent to N312 billion from N269.79 billion in the corresponding period of 2018. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), yesterday, disclosed this in its sectoral distribution of Value Added Tax (VAT) data for Q2 2019.
The report showed that ‘Other Manufacturing’ sector generated the highest amount of VAT of N34.43 billion during the period. The report stated: “Sectoral distribution of Value Added Tax data for Q2’19 reflected that the sum of N311.94 billion was generated in Q2’19 as against N289.04 billion generated in Q1’19 and N269.79 billion generated in Q2’18 representing 7.92 percent increase quarter-on-quarter, QoQ, and 16.95 percent increase year-on-year, YoY. FG generates N808bn from VAT in 9 months — NBS(Opens in a new browser tab) “Other manufacturing generated the highest amount of VAT with N34.43 billion generated and closely followed by Professional Services generating N29.58 billion, Commercial and Trading generating N16.27 billion while Mining generated the least and closely followed by Pharmaceutical, Soaps & Toiletries and Textile and Garment Industry with N50.60 million, N250.09 million and N316.91million generated respectively. “Out of the total amounted generated in Q2’19, N151.56 billion was generated as Non-Import tax locally while N94.90 billion was generated as Non-Import VAT for foreign. The balance of N65.48 billion was generated as Nigeria Custom Service (NCS)-Import VAT.”

Source: Vanguard

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Bundesliga minnows Freiburg continued their dream start to the season as goals from Nils Petersen, Janik Haberer and Christian Guenter fired them to a 3-0 victory at neighbours Hoffenheim on Sunday. The win leaves Freiburg in third and sees them leapfrog perennial champions Bayern Munich, who were held to a 1-1 draw at league leaders RB Leipzig on Saturday. Freiburg was ruthless in the first half and deserved their two-goal lead at the break. Guenter swept in the opener after a darting run in from the left wing on 11 minutes, and Petersen had a goal ruled out for offside shortly before the half-hour mark. Haberer doubled the lead on 38 minutes, picking out the bottom corner brilliantly from the edge of the area. Hoffenheim, who had shown only flashes of danger in the first half, were caught napping when an unmarked Petersen poached the third goal on the hour mark. Freiburg have now won three of their opening four games, with only Bayern and Borussia Dortmund have managed to score more goals. In Saturday’s later game, promoted side Paderborn look to pick up their first win of the season when they host David Wagner’s Schalke.

Source: Guardian

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Inter Milan reclaimed top spot in Serie A after a 1-0 win over 10-man Udinese on Saturday as Juventus lost three players to injury in a painful goalless draw at Fiorentina to complicate preparations for next week’s Champions League opener. Stefano Sensi’s diving header was enough to seal a maximum nine points for Antonio Conte’s Inter ahead of their European opener against Slavia Prague in the San Siro next Tuesday. But as Maurizio Sarri made his debut on the Juventus bench after recovering from pneumonia, the Italian champions showed signs of weakness four days before their trip to Atletico Madrid. Juventus are trailing tw o points behind Inter Milan after three games and could be overtaken by city rivals Torino who host promoted Lecce on Monday. Napoli meanwhile warmed up for European holders Liverpool on Tuesday with a Dries Mertens double sealing a 2-0 win over crisis club Sampdoria, to move up to fourth in the table. “We wouldn’t have deserved to win this game,” said Sarri as Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates lacked inspiration and struggled physically. The reigning eight-time Serie A champions are already missing injured captain Giorgio Chiellini, Mattia De Sciglio and Marko Pjaca. And Brazilian Douglas Costa pulled up with a hamstring problem minutes into the game in Florence, followed by Miralem Pjanic with a muscular issue with Danilo later suffering cramps in the heat. They nevertheless held on despite pressure with former French international Franck Ribery impressive on his first start for the hosts. “It was a very complicated situation as we used all our substitutions for injuries, and had no fresh players to introduce at key moments,” said Sarri. “A team with less character would lose such a game.” Midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur added: “We got an important point, today we saw a bad Juventus. “We suffered on the wings, they were very good. We still have to get used to Sarri’s game, but we are on the right track. Now we want to win in Madrid.”
‘Better than Ronaldo’
Ribery, 36, went off to a standing ovation from the crowd at the Artemio Franchi Stadium after an hour as his team earned their first point this season. Ribery “played better than Ronaldo,” insisted Fiorentina’s new owner Rocco Commisso, as the former Bayern Munich midfielder did well to neutralise Ronaldo, who had scored four goals for Portugal in European qualifiers this week. Ronaldo failed to add to his tally with an acrobatic bicycle kick in the 85th minute flying over the bar. In the San Siro, Udinese played an hour a man down after Rodrigo de Paul saw red for slapping Antonio Candreva. Sensi broke through just before the break getting his head to a cross from fellow newcomer Diego Godin. Former Manchester United forward Alexis Sanchez came on for the final ten minutes, and was denied his first goal by Udinese goalkeeper Juan Musso. Napoli played their first home game after renovations carried out to their San Paolo Stadium. Giovanni Di Lorenzo provided the cross for Mertens to tap in after 13 minutes. New signing Fernando Llorente made his debut and the former Tottenham player had an immediate impact, sending the ball back to Mertens who finished off for a 67th-minute goal which took a slight deflection off Sampdoria defender Alex Ferrari. “We did well, played qualify football,” said Caro Ancelotti. “We also kept a clean sheet, so at least that was a sigh of relief,” he added, after Napoli conceded seven goals in their first two games against Fiorentina and Juventus. Eusebio Di Francesco’s Sampdoria are in the midst of a crisis as the Genoa club remain bottom of the table with no points and nine goals conceded.

Source: punch

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Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, a member of the Standard Bank Group, has announced its mid-year audited results for the period ended June 30, 2019, as it recorded a profit of N36.2 billion after tax. The Group also announced an interim dividend of 100 kobo.
According to the Stanbic IBTC’s income statement, the Group recorded an increase in gross earnings to N117.4 billion, representing a 3% growth. The company also maintained its total operating income of N94 billion. Profit before tax stood at N44.7 billion, while profit after tax was N36.2 billion. Other results reflect an increase in non-interest revenue which stood at N54.9 billion while net-interest income was N39.3 billion. Stanbic IBTC’s balance sheet reflect that the Group’s total asset’s was N1,619.3 billion while the gross loans and advances was N479.7 billion, an increase in 5%, compared to last year’s figures. While customer deposits was N693.5 billion, there was an improvement in current-and-savings-accounts deposits mix which went up to 68.9%. Speaking at the formal announcement of the results at the Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC Headquarters, Yinka Sanni, Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC, stated that the Group’s business segments were profitable, despite the challenging business and regulatory environment.

Source: PM News

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The popular Abakpa Market in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, was shut down on Wednesday, following the alleged death of an apprentice. The victim was said to have been beaten to death by persons suspected to be thugs who reportedly accompanied government officials to the market to enforce payment of tax on behalf of the state government.
Our Correspondent gathered that the Ebonyi State Government task force had gone to the market to press the marketers to pay their taxes, a situation which resulted to an uprising that eventually led to chaos. During the pandemonium, the source said, policemen drafted to the area teargassed the marketers, even as the aggrieved markers were said to have responded by hauling stones and other dangerous materials. An eyewitness recounted, “Government officials had come around to demand for tax. “When they got to a man’s shop, he was said to have demanded to know what the matter was. This reportedly made one of the thugs who followed the government officials to slap the shop owner. “The man retaliated and they started beating the man, leading to his death. “Policemen have since taken over the market and the market is currently shut down. The Ebonyi State Police Command said it could not confirm the incident as of the time of filing this report. The Command’s spokesperson, Loveth Odah, told journalists in Abakaliki on Wednesday that she would not comment on the matter because her men were yet to return from the crisis scene. Reacting to the incident, the Special Assistant to Ebonyi State Governor on Internally Generated Revenue, Okwuegu Martin, denied the death of one of the traders. He explained that the state government had given the traders several notices to pay up. “They had refused to comply, until the task force embarked on the enforcement drive,” Martin said.

Source: Punch

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Police in Sao Paulo said Tuesday they will bring extortion and slander charges against a Brazilian model who accused football star Neymar of rape. Najila Trindade filed a rape complaint with Sao Paulo police upon her return from a trip to Paris in May in which she said she was assaulted by Neymar following a pre-arranged meeting. A judge dismissed the case in August, citing insufficient evidence. Instead, Sao Paulo prosecutors said in a statement that investigators had found “indications of slanderous denunciation and extortion” in the woman’s accusation. A final decision on whether to prosecute Trindade will be left to a judge. Neymar, the world’s most expensive footballer, has always protested his innocence, saying their relations were consensual. The case complicated an already tumultuous year for the 27-year-old Brazil star, who has yet to play for his club Paris Saint-Germain this season following injury and reports of an aborted return to previous club Barcelona. On Friday, Neymar played his first game since suffering an ankle injury in June, grabbing a second-half equalizer for Brazil in a 2-2 friendly draw with Colombia.

Source: Punch
 
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Police in Sao Paulo said Tuesday they will bring extortion and slander charges against a Brazilian model who accused football star Neymar of rape. Najila Trindade filed a rape complaint with Sao Paulo police upon her return from a trip to Paris in May in which she said she was assaulted by Neymar following a pre-arranged meeting. A judge dismissed the case in August, citing insufficient evidence. Instead, Sao Paulo prosecutors said in a statement that investigators had found “indications of slanderous denunciation and extortion” in the woman’s accusation. A final decision on whether to prosecute Trindade will be left to a judge. Neymar, the world’s most expensive footballer, has always protested his innocence, saying their relations were consensual. The case complicated an already tumultuous year for the 27-year-old Brazil star, who has yet to play for his club Paris Saint-Germain this season following injury and reports of an aborted return to previous club Barcelona. On Friday, Neymar played his first game since suffering an ankle injury in June, grabbing a second-half equalizer for Brazil in a 2-2 friendly draw with Colombia.

Source: Punch

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Summary
On 14 August 2019, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) issued a Public Notice (PN) on deduction of tax at source from compensations paid to agents by principal companies. The PN directs companies to deduct and remit Withholding Tax (WHT) and Value Added Tax (VAT) on compensations such as commissions and rebates, which are due to their distributors and customers.
Details
According to the FIRS, the issuance of the PN is aimed at providing guidance to the public and in particular, taxpayers and advisers on WHT and VAT, which is deductible from the compensations or commissions due to distributors, agents and customers. In the PN, the FIRS stated that compensations and commissions earned by distributors/dealers are to be subjected to VAT and WHT. According to the PN, its position is based on its Information Circular No. 2006/02 issued in February, 2006 and the Companies Income Tax Act (Rates, Etc. Deduction at Source (Withholding Tax) Regulations. The FIRS, however, stated that a number of companies have failed to deduct WHT and VAT from such compensations and commissions. The PN, further requires companies (specifically those in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Sector) to apply WHT and VAT on any compensation due to their distributors and customers. The FIRS stated that the duty to deduct and remit WHT or VAT will not be affected by the mode of payment (i.e. cash, credit notes, goods-in-trade or any other means payable). Based on the PN, such WHT/VAT must be charged at the appropriate rate and remitted to the FIRS on or before the 21st of every month. The FIRS further stated that it will commence the monitoring of compliance on relevant companies/transactions. Implication This PN implies that companies are to subject all forms of compensation payments including commissions and rebates granted to dealers, agents, distributors and general customers to WHT and VAT and remit same to the FIRS. The PN has some far-reaching implications especially for companies in the FMCG sector. The FIRS' directive to companies to deduct VAT at source is not in line with the express provisions of the VAT Act. Except for transactions with non-resident companies or transactions with companies in the oil and gas sector, companies are not ordinarily required to deduct VAT at source under the existing VAT Act. Moreover, the applicability of VAT on rebates and discounts issued to distributors and customers remains a contentious issue given that they do not necessarily constitute income/revenue in the hands of the companies that enjoy it. Thus, the requirement to account for VAT and WHT on compensation payments and sales-incentives is unclear because giving a blanket directive without specifics as to the practical application of VAT and WHT on such category of transaction simply creates more ambiguities. Based on the above, we expect the FIRS to issue further guidance to provide additional clarity on the PN. Taxpayers are however advised to seek professional advice in order to review their existing business arrangements to ensure compliance with the provisions of the tax laws.

Source: Mondaq

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It was another record-breaking night for Cristiano Ronaldo, despite Robbie Keane’s best efforts to steer him away. The Juventus forward netted four goals as Portugal beat Lithuania to take his overall tally to 25 in European qualifying – two more than the previous record set by former Republic of Ireland striker Keane. Before the match, Keane asked Ronaldo to “leave this one” after pointing out the five-time Ballon d’Or winner was two goals away from his record. “I think you have enough records, Cristiano!” Keane joked on Instagram. But after scoring against his 150th different team for club and country, there was no stopping Ronaldo netting his eighth international hat-trick and stealing the limelight. Ronaldo has now scored 93 international goals, 16 behind Iran legend Ali Daei’s world record in men’s football and is also the first European to score 90 goals for his country. The 34-year-old is the leading scorer in European Championships. He has netted 34 goals in total – including nine in final tournaments, which is also a joint-record with Frenchman Michel Platini. Those goals came in four successive tournaments – 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 – with one in the semi-final victory over Wales during Portugal’s title-winning campaign three years ago. No other European has scored more goals in competitive international fixtures, with Ronaldo netting 72, including the first goal and a hat-trick in the Nations League Finals when he put three past Switzerland in the last four in June. And his tally of 30 goals in European World Cup qualifying is another record. Ronaldo has netted against an impressive 150 different teams while playing for clubs and country. Just under a third of those have been against other nations (40), while just 17 have been in friendly matches. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has a knack for leaving it late too, with 26 of his 93 international goals coming in the last 15 minutes. He has scored more goals with his head (25) than with his left foot (22) and in the 61 games he has scored in, Portugal have gone on to lose just five of them, winning 51. Interestingly – outside of penalty shootouts – Ronaldo has never scored against European giants France, Germany, Italy or England. He has scored five goals against Andorra, Armenia, Latvia and Sweden – more than any other nation.

Source: punch

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The Federal Government generated N311.94bn between April and June; statistics provided by the National Bureau of Statistics have shown. In the first quarter of the year, January to March, the country generated N289.04bn through VAT. NBS revealed that N269.79bn was generated in Q2 2018 representing 7.92 per cent increase Quarter-on-Quarter and 16.95 per cent increase Year-on-Year.
The manufacturing sector generated the highest amount of VAT with N34.43bn. It was followed by professional services that generated N29.58bn; and commercial and trading, N16.27bn. Textile and garment generated a total of N316.91m in VAT; Pharmaceutical generated N250.09m while mining generated the least amount in VAT, N50.6m.Out of the total VAT value in Q2 2019, N151.56bn was generated as non-import VAT locally, while N94.90bn was generated as non-Import VAT for foreign. The balance of N65.48bn was generated as NCS-import VAT. As part of its tax revenue drive, the Federal Inland Revenue Service recently ordered companies to remit value-added tax and withholding tax by the 21st day of every month. It observed that some companies were fond of not deducting taxes at source. In another development, the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria has backed the plan by the Federal Government to introduce Value Added Tax on online transactions. The institute said it should have been introduced to the economy long ago as the same practice was obtainable in other climes because the nation was losing a significant amount of revenue by not taxing online transactions. It stated, “The amount of money we are losing because we are not tracking these online transactions is huge. Even if we are not getting it fully right at the beginning, let us talk about it; let us bring it into our conversation and let us put it into action. “In some climes, as you are transferring money, it is being taxed; even invisible trades are being tracked.” The institute said that when taxable incomes were earned, they must be taxed.

Source: Punch

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The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) says it will begin to impose Value Added Tax (VAT) on online transactions, both domestic and international, from January 2020. The chairman of FIRS, Tunde Fowler, disclosed this at the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) Technical Workshop on VAT on Monday in Abuja.
Mr Fowler said many countries had identified Nigeria as a big market and many of them were doing online businesses, adding that there was the need to tap the potentials to generate more revenue for the country. He, however, said that the date of commencement of the VAT on online transactions would be subject to the government’s approval. “We have thrown it out to Nigerians. Effective from January 2020, we will ask banks to charge VAT on online transactions, both domestic and international. “VAT remains the cash cow in most African countries, with an average VAT-to-total tax revenue rate of 31 percent. This is higher than the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s average of 20 percent. “This statistics, therefore, is a validation of the need for us to streamline the administration of this tax with the full knowledge of its potential contributions to national budgets. “It is, however, also bearing in mind the rights of our taxpayers,” he said. He said in Nigeria, VAT is critical to the development of projects at all levels of government. “VAT revenue is shared 15 percent to the Federal Government, 50 percent to state governments and 35 percent to local governments. “FIRS wrote to all commercial banks in May 2018, requesting for a list of companies, partnerships and enterprises with a banking turnover of N1 billion and above. “This activity is aimed at ascertaining those companies that are compliant with the tax laws and those that are not,” he said. Mr Fowler, who is also the chairman of ATAF, said the African tax outlook gave some starting points on the questions to ask regarding some aspects of VAT. “Why does VAT contribute 51 percent to total tax revenue in Senegal but only 17 percent in Nigeria? Why is the ratio on VAT refunds at 49 percent in Zambia but only one percent in The Gambia?” he queried. Mr Fowler charged participants at the workshop to find answers to the questions and address the gaps in some countries to improve VAT collection. The Executive Secretary of ATAF, Logan Wort, said the establishment of the ATAF VAT Technical Committee in 2017 had given rise to various debates aimed at giving better policy options for countries. Wort explained that this would enable member-states to share ideas and techniques on how best to administer, design and audit VAT.

Source: Premium Times

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The Corporate Affairs Commission apologizes to its esteemed customers and the general public for the current disruption of its online services, the disruption was due to infrastructure upgrade which was designed at enhancing service efficiency and customer experience.
The Commission had on Monday 19th August, 2019 deployed additional online services for the processing of post incorporation applications as part of its infrastructure upgrade. Consequent upon the disruption due to the infrastructure upgrade, the Commission has set up Customer Support Services (CSS) at its State Offices nationwide to attend to complaints from members of the public. The CSS is in addition to the existing Help Lines. Also, the CAC has set up a dedicated support team at the on-going Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) AGC in Lagos to attend to complaints from delegates during the one week event. The Commission is doing everything possible to ensure that normal services resumes as soon as possible. The Commission appeals to the general public to exercise calm and regrets all inconveniences caused as a result of the disruption in its services.

Source: Proshare

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Once you have submitted your income tax return to SARS, you will be issued with an ITA34 - your notice of assessment - for the relevant year of assessment. At the top of your assessment you will be given two important dates, that are often overlooked, although these dates are of vital importance to you as a taxpayer. The dates are your “date of assessment” and your “payment due date”.
Each of these dates are unique to the relevant year of assessment and are determined based on the date which the return is submitted. Now you may well ask what they mean? Well, let us unpack this for you. The date of assessment is important to keep in consideration when deciding to object to an assessment or when wanting to request for a correction of an assessment. In terms of the Tax Administration Act, an assessment will expire after 3 years, meaning that 3 years after your date of assessment. So, three years after the date of assessment, you will no longer be allowed to object to the assessment or request for a correction on that return that gave rise to the tax assessment. The payment due date is the final date on which you will have to pay SARS the outstanding liability in respect of the assessment. If the outstanding liability in respect of the assessment is not paid on the payment due date, interest may well start accruing one month from the payment due date. Interest will start accruing on the first day of each month until such time that the outstanding liability in respect of that assessment is settled. This interest along with the tax liability will be reflected on your statement of account (your assessed account)..

Source: IOL

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In line with the ease of doing business policy, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), has made changes to the pre-incorporation and post-incorporation processes on its portal. In a statement culled from the Commission’s website, “users will now have an option to check for conflicting names before making a name reservation to reduce the number of denied name reservations and the attendant costs.” “Users will no longer be directed to the ‘Upload’ segment of the website but will now be prompted to upload signed incorporation documents as soon as the payment of filing fees and stamp duties are made. Certificates of Incorporation will now be printed by the accredited user.
“The requirement for a valid Company email address is now mandatory as the Commission will communicate all future correspondences (including but not limited to the acknowledgment of post-incorporation filings) to the company via its registered email address. The procedure for making post-incorporation changes are as follows: When a company is incorporated, the portal sends a notification to the company’s registered email prompting it to create online profiles of accredited users who it intends to engage for purposes of its post-incorporation filings. “The Company enters details of the users and their email addresses. Once this is completed, the accredited user receives an email with login details, which grants them access to the portal to process post-incorporation filings on behalf of that Company. “Further, all CTC requests will now be made online and the CTCs printed by the user. All documents emanating from the Commission (Certificates of Incorporation and CTCs) will now bear an electronic certification stamp with a QR Code. The innovation of the QR Code enables any interested party with a smartphone to scan the code and confirm the authenticity of the document. “There has also been a slight change to the cost of obtaining CTCs of Annual Returns. Typically, a company pays N2,000 for CTC of the Annual Returns Form CAC 10, the Company’s Audited Accounts and CAC’s letter. Companies will now be required to pay N2,000 for each of these documents,” the statement read in part.

Source: The Sun

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The Federal Inland Service (FIRS) has suspended the accounts owned by Obasanjo Farms, Iyiola Omisore and Davido Music Worldwide Ltd. Latest Nigeria News understands that the “bond” is a right to maintain possession of a property (accounts) that belongs to another person until a debt of that person is released.
Remember that Babatunde Fowler, executive president of the Federal Internal Revenue Service (FIRS), was consulted by President Muhammadu Buhari regarding alleged discrepancies in tax collection from 2015 to 2018. Latestalert reports that Fowler was consulted in a letter from President Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, dated 8 August 2019 This online news platform includes that the letter addressed to the FIRS president asked him to explain the reasons for the “significant” changes in budget collections and actual tax collections in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. The Federal Interior Service (FIRS) listed 19,901 accounts that had not yet regularized their tax status. Some of the accounts published include: Citiroof Aluminium Co. Ltd, Coldstone Creamery Limited (Yaba), Davido Music Worldwide Ltd, Grand Square Supermarket and Stores Ltd, Iyiola Omisore & Par, Open Heavens Bliss Enterprises and The Assemblies of God Nigeria. Others are X3M Music Limited, Tiger Foods Limited, Slot Enterprises, Payporte Technology Limited, Visionscape Sanitation Solutions Limited, Erisco Foods Limited Milk Cube account, God is Good Motors (Vehicle sales account), Hubmart Stores Limited, Obasanjo Farms Nig. Ltd (Feedmill) and United Capital Plc. The FIRS, in an advertorial, vowed to enforce the payment of whatever outstanding each company had. “This is to notify all Companies, which had their Bank Accounts placed under Lien by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) pursuant to Section 31 of the FIRSE Act, but are yet to regularise their tax status with the FIRS, that if they fail, refuse or neglect to pay the tax due within 30 days of this Notice, the FIRS shall in accordance with Section 49 (2) (a- d) of the FIRSE Act proceed and enforce the payment of the said tax against all the Directors, Managers, Secretaries and every other person concerned in the management of the Companies and recover the said tax from such persons without further notice. “For the avoidance of doubt, the above Section authorizes the FIRS to proceed against and punish every officer, Manager, Director, Secretary or any person concerned with the management of the Company in like manner as if he/she had committed the offence,” it said.

Source: Latest Alert

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Summary
On 19 July 2019, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released its report on harmful tax practices across various jurisdictions. The report indicates that Mauritius which had previously been identified as a jurisdiction with harmful tax practices no longer has such harmful tax practices. Specifically, the Mauritian "Partial Tax Exemption Regime", which was introduced in 2018 to replace the harmful "Global Business Licence Regime" has now been declared not harmful.
Details
In 2015, the OECD introduced the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) framework, which aims, among other things, to tackle international tax avoidance, which is facilitated by the shifting of profits from high paying tax jurisdictions to low paying tax jurisdictions. As part of the BEPS Project, the OECD periodically identifies tax regimes, which have features that can facilitate BEPS, and have the potential to unfairly impact the tax base of other jurisdictions. Such features are referred to as "harmful tax practices". Prior to now, the OECD ruled certain Mauritian tax regimes as harmful and recommended the abolishment of such regimes. These regimes included the Global Business Licence Category 1 (GBL 1) companies and Global Business Licence Category 2 (GBL 2) companies. GBL 1 granted Holding Companies certain treaty benefits such as an 80% deemed foreign tax credit, which reduced the effective tax rate of such companies from 15% to 3%. On the other hand, GBL 2 granted tax exemption to companies. A number of businesses had benefitted from the Mauritian tax regime by setting up Mauritian Holding Companies with little or no economic substance in Mauritius. Effectively, such companies were able to reduce their effective tax rates significantly because of the favourable tax regime in Mauritius. To address the OECD's concerns, Mauritius abolished the GBL Regimes in 2018 and introduced a Partial Exemption Regime, which provides for an 80% tax exemption on specified passive income of Global Business Corporations (GBCs) in Mauritius. A tax credit is generally preferred to an exemption as this gives dollar for dollar savings in tax rather than tax savings at the effective tax rate. Thus, the new regime is less favourable and ensures that the GBCs paid some tax in Mauritius on their global income. Upon a review of the Mauritian Partial Exemption Regime, the OECD has now declared the Mauritian Partial Exemption Regime as not harmful as the regime complies with the OECD's standards. Mauritius also introduced substance requirements for companies seeking to enjoy the 80% exemption. These requirements include that a GBC must, at all times, carry out its core income generating activities in, or from Mauritius by employing (either directly or indirectly) a reasonable number of suitably qualified persons to carry out the core activities and the GBC is expected to have a minimum level of expenditure proportionate to its level of activities. However, despite the positive reviews of the OECD, the European Union Code of Conduct Group (EU COCG) had flagged the Mauritian Partial Exemption Regime as harmful in February 2019. According to the EU COCG, the Mauritian Partial Exemption Regime does not have adequate substance requirements in terms of treatment of outsourcing activities. In response to the EU, the Mauritian Prime Minister, recently announced that the Mauritian tax laws would be amended to stipulate conditions that must be satisfied where a company seeking to enjoy the Partial Exemption Regime outsources its core income generating activities. These conditions include that the Company must demonstrate adequate monitoring of the outsourced activities, the outsourced activities must be conducted in Mauritius; and the economic substance of service providers must not be counted multiple times by different companies when evidencing their own substance in Mauritius. However, these changes have not been passed into law yet.
Implication
With the recent report, Mauritius is no longer on the list of jurisdictions with harmful tax practices. However, given the EU's reservations on the Mauritian tax regime, Mauritius is still making amends to its legislation to eliminate harmful tax practices. Thus, companies with EU investments need to monitor the changes in the Mauritian tax and regulatory space to enable them make informed business decisions. In addition to this, businesses that have traditionally used Mauritian companies for tax planning purposes should seek relevant professional advice, as there may be an urgent need to restructure their Mauritian entities to ensure that they meet up with the new substance requirements.

Source: Mondaq

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The English Premier League has the most number of players on the 2019 FIFA FIFPro men’s World XI shortlist for the first time in 10 years. The global players’ union said on Thursday that 21 of the 55 nominees play in the English top-flight, as the Premier League ended La Liga’s reign at the top. Seven players from Liverpool’s 2018/2019 UEFA Champions League-winning squad feature on the shortlist. But Spanish giants Real Madrid (11) and FC Barcelona (nine) still lead the way in terms of club representation. Among the 17 players to make their debut on the list are the Liverpool quartet of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson, Roberto Firmino and Alisson Becker. After another impressive season with Tottenham Hotspur, South Korea’s Son Heung-min became the first Asian player to feature on the list. Also, his club team mate Christian Eriksen is the first Danish footballer to make the cut. The World XI will be revealed at the Best FIFA Football Awards in Milan on September 23.

Source: Punch

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Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu is eagerly awaiting Saturday’s US Open title showdown with 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, in a rematch of last month’s Toronto final that was cut short by injury. The 19-year-old Andreescu, playing at just her fourth Grand Slam and making her US Open main draw debut, has enjoyed a rapid rise over the past nine months after finishing 2018 ranked 178th in the world. She became just the second Canadian woman — after Eugenie Bouchard at Wimbledon in 2014 — to reach a Grand Slam final following Thursday’s 7-6 (7/3), 7-5 win over Swiss 13th seed Belinda Bencic. Andreescu will on Saturday face a record-chasing Williams, who won her first major title at the 1999 US Open before Andreescu was even born. The pair recently met at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, but it was a brief encounter, with Williams retiring while trailing 3-1 in the final due to a back injury. “I’ve wanted to play her. I remember always telling my team I would have always wanted to play her right before she retires. I’m really looking forward to it. She’s an amazing champion on and off the court. It’s going to be fun,” Andreescu said. “A lot of emotions are running through my body right now. A lot of thoughts, too. But right now I’m just trying to take in the victory of tonight. “Hopefully I can just keep the momentum going for the finals. Hopefully, I can play a little bit better than I did today.” Andreescu is the second teenage Grand Slam finalist this year — after French Open runner-up Marketa Vondrousova — and will bid to become the first teen Grand Slam champion since Maria Sharapova won at Flushing Meadows in 2006.

Source: Punch

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Belinda Bencic won’t become the first Swiss woman to win a Grand Slam title in 20 years at the US Open, but she adopted a positive outlook after a tough loss. Canadian teen Bianca Andreescu won the last five games to defeat Bencic 7-6 (7/3), 7-5 in a semi-final Thursday to book a Saturday showdown with 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams for the title. Bencic quickly took an optimistic attitude after her first Slam semi-final appearance, which ensured her return to the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time since February 2016. “Very much disappointed. After every loss, you are. That’s no surprise,” Bencic said. “But overall really we talk with the team just now. What we reach here, semi-final, it’s my best result by far. We should definitely not take this for granted and be grateful for that. “I think that put me in a more positive mood.” Not since Martina Hingis won the 1999 Australian Open has a Swiss woman captured a Slam singles crown. Bencic reached the 2014 US Open quarter-final but was hit with injuries from 2016 to 2018, notably needing left wrist surgery in 2017. Bencic’s ranking fell to 318th but her long road back saw her win at Dubai in February and achieve more than she imagined during the Flushing Meadows fortnight. “Definitely, like, positively, for sure we reached I think more than I expected here,” Bencic said. “I think my best result. Really, I’m taking it to step by step. Just really happy and positive about it.” Bencic missed six break chances in the first set and while she broke three times in the second set, Andreescu broke her four. “Overall I just think it was a big fight, a big battle,” Bencic said. “I think it was very tactical. Bianca plays smart. I think I can play smart or like try to make the right tactic. “In the end, it was really just about some points that turned everything around. Also in the second set, I think I had so many break chances which I didn’t use. But I think she played the best on them. I think it’s very tough to win a set if you cannot use all these chances. “She definitely played the big points better than me. I think that’s the whole tennis difference.” While Bencic takes away good feelings for her effort, her semi-final loss won’t be one she studies to help her game. “I will not watch it. Just talk about it,” she said. “Just take some time for sure. When the emotions go away, then for sure talk about it, learn out of it.”

Source: Punch

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Company Statement of Affairs
The Statement of Affair is a summary of a Company’s assets and liabilities. It states the net book value and amount expected to realise at the date of Insolvency of the business. It provides a useful source of information for both the Administrator and the creditors. And It is often referred to by lenders should directors get involved in new ventures before lending to the new company to understand how serious the previous insolvency was. The SOA may also be considered when determining whether a director should be disqualified.
Its analysis can be used to establish:
The likely return to creditors
The extent of the insolvency
Whether the directors have concealed assets from the administrator
Whether there are indications of wrongful trading
Once the administration is complete the actual performance of the administrator.
Filing of Statement of Affairs for CAC and FIRS Applications
For CAC Filing of Annual Returns, requirement include:
Audited financial statement or statement of affairs for "Small Companies" signed by 2 directors and duly certified by a chartered accountant where applicable.
Small companies include
Company with authorised share capital of less than N2million
Company with annual turnover of less than N2million
Company with no allien or foreign national member or government agent or nominee.
Where the directors among them hold more than 51% of the alloted share capital.
For FIRS Filling of annual return, requirement include:
Company Statement of Affairs whereby the company is yet to commence business or/and audited financial statement signed by a director and duly certified by a chartered accountant where applicable Payment of fees

Source: Marylea

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Fans have urged Anthony Joshua not to underrate his opponent, Andy Ruiz Jr, in their re-match in Saudi Arabia. Ruiz shocked Joshua to win the IBF, WBA and WBO titles in June but a second fight will take place in Saudi Arabia on December 7. The fans gave the warning after Joshua announced his presence in Saudi Arabia on Twitter on Wednesday. According to the fans, Joshua should not over-confident ahead of the re-match. Some of the fans also highlighted the areas the British boxer of Nigerian descent should work on ahead of the Ruiz bout. One of them, Dennis Aron said, “Champions do go down, champions don’t stay down. See you up there with thebelts. Let’s go Josh, but never underestimate.” Another fan, Faniran Olufemi, urged Joshua to be concentrated, saying, “You need complete concentration and full focus,no distraction. You will win again.” Luke Van warned Joshua that losing would affect his career, noting that “If you lose again then your career goes backwards years. No pressure.” “Brother, watch out for his close attack. He will still try to deny you your usual long punch. Try to train on shorthand,” Tajudeen said. “Go get those belts back and send a resounding statement to the rest of the heavy weight division. Go Naija boy, we’re proud of you,” Dr Nnamdi Ugwunze added. Meanwhile, Anthony Joshua has vowed to “expose” Ruiz in their world heavyweight championship rematch. “I know some of the attributes he possesses, and some of the weaknesses. I have to go about exposing him a little bit more.” Joshua said.

Source: Punch

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Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, is conducting a new investigation into the country’s football federation, it has revealed. The latest investigation comes on the back of a separate case brought EFCC and one by the Special Presidential Investigation Panel. The latest wide-ranging investigation is looking into fraud allegations over how sponsorship money meant for the development of football in the country has been stolen. “What I can confirm is that officials of the Nigeria Football Federation are being investigated by the agency,” EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, told BBC Sport. BBC Sport understands that the investigation into the NFF will look at allegations of wrongdoing before the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The inquiry is focusing on money generated from the NFF’s official sponsors, domestic league’s television sponsorship and payments from a former kit supplier for all the national teams. It also focuses on funds provided by federal and state governments for friendly matches involving the Super Eagles and the misappropriation of about US$2.7m from the Financial Assistance Programme of football’s world governing body, FIFA. In May, the NFF president Amaju Pinnick told the BBC that he and four other top officials were being “victimised” and denied any wrongdoing over the alleged misappropriation of funds case brought by the SPIP for the recovery of public property. Meanwhile, the NFF and EFCC are also awaiting a legal judgement on the second case at the Federal High Court in the capital Abuja. That corruption trial involved three NFF accounts staff – director of finance, Christopher Andekin; head of finance and accounts Jafaru Mamza and Rajan Zaka, a cashier. The trio are standing trial for allegedly embezzling US$9.5m being grants from FIFA and CAF for the development of football in Nigeria. The accused trio have been arraigned and pleaded not guilty. The EFCC has since filed an amendment for Pinnick and general secretary Muhamed Sanusi to be charged along with the trio already in court in Abuja. The matter has since been adjourned and no date has been fixed for ruling.

Source: Punch

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D’Tigers defeated Korea 108-66 in their final Group B game on Wednesday at the Wuhan Sports Center, The PUNCH reports. It was D’Tigers first win at the tournament after back-to-back losses to Russia and Argentina. The win saw Nigeria finish third in Group B behind Argentina and Russia. Nigeria won all four quarters of the game recording 17-15, 32-16, 30-19 and 29-16. Michael Eric was outstanding for D’Tigers, posting 17 points, nine rebounds — his best game at the competition, which earned him the prestigious Player of The Game. Nigeria guard Vincent Nnamdi admitted after the game that D’Tigers failed to meet the targets set prior to the World Cup, despite their big win over Korea. Nnamdi posted nine points and two rebounds in 19 minutes of action during the encounter. “That was definitely a very big win for us,” Nnamdi said during the post-match conference. “Coming here, we had very big expectations but unfortunately, we have not met all of them. It was definitely reassuring to play the brand of basketball that we know we can play and to go out there and play like ourselves and play together (Wednesday)tonight.” Following the win, D’Tigers will head to Group M in Guangzhou along with Ivory Coast, Korea and Venezuela for the Classification Round 17-32. Nigeria coach Alex Nwora added that he was pleased with his side’s performance. “Everything you do here counts. We were not worried about the margin. We were just trying to win the game. “Fortunately for us, all cylinders were clicking and we were able to put up a lot of points. It came from our defense. Our size and game plan bothered them a lot and we were able to capitalise on that. “It was very efficient for us to score those points. We did not come into the game thinking how many points we will score. We came in to make sure that we give ourselves a chance to win this game and we were able to do that very well.” Meanwhile, D’Tigers will face Ivory Coast on Friday at the City Arena in Guangzhou, China, in their opening match of the classification round at the ongoing 2019 FIBA World Cup, The PUNCH reports Alex Nwora’s side will also take on China at the same venue on Sunday.

Source: Punch

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President Muhammadu Buhari has given the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Babatunde Fowler till Monday to explain the gaps in tax collections between 2015 and 2018.
Fowler, whose top echelon of his FIRS has in recent times, been under the searchlight of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) for duty tour allowance (DTA) is expected to explain the discrepancies between the budgeted collections and the actual for the period under review. In a letter signed by Chief of staff to the president, Abba Kyari to Fowler whose tenure expires Saturday, the presidency noted significant variances between budgeted FIRS Collections and Actual Collections for Period 2015 to 2018. “Accordingly, you are kindly invited to submit a comprehensive variance analysis explaining the reasons for the discrepancies between budgeted and Actual collections for each main Tax item for each of the years 2015 to 2018. The FIRS Chairman was also queried over Actual Collections for Periods 2015 to 2017 as it was ‘Significantly Worse’ than what was collected between 2012 and 2014. “Furthermore, we observed that the actual collections for the period 2015 to 2017 were significantly worse than what was collected between 2012 and 2014. He was accordingly, invited to give detailed explanations on the reasons for the poor collections during the periods under consideration.

Source: Inside business

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Eden Hazard and his brother Thorgan will miss Belgium’s Euro 2020 qualifiers against San Marino and Scotland through injuries, the Belgian football association said on Wednesday. The pair reported to the team camp in Tubize on Tuesday for medical checks which confirmed Eden is suffering from a muscle strain while his younger brother has a rib injury. Eden has yet to make his league debut for Real Madrid since his move to Chelsea because of the injury. No replacements have been named by coach Roberto Martinez. Belgium, who have won their opening four qualifiers in Group I, play in San Marino on Friday and then Scotland at Hampden Park on Monday.

Source: Punch

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Online companies like Facebook, Google and Netflix have managed to have an edge over how business is done and Africa has been getting the short end of the stick. Is it now time to create an even playing field that gives traditional businesses a chance?
In November last year, South Africa broadened its value added tax (VAT) base by including all electronic services that are supplied to the South African market. France has also just passed digital services tax targeted at Silicon Valley. Is it time that African governments consider revamping their tax systems to accommodate for the evolution in modern commerce? In Nigeria, companies such as Jumia, Flutterwave, Andela, and Cowrywise have pretty much grown and shaped the digital landscape away from the taxman’s radar. This is not for long though. The Chairman of Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service confirmed this in an interview with Premium Times Newspaper in which he revealed that the country is currently working on a solution for taxing the digital economy. As it stands today, most large technology companies have to pay tax in countries in which they operate due to lack of any physical presence. Therefore, companies such as Netflix do not pay tax the same way a company that offers a similar service physically such Multichoice’s DSTV does. In his maiden budget presentation in November last year, Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister brought up the issue. In his statement, he proposed to extend the scope of revenues deemed to be from a source in Zimbabwe for tax purposes to include amounts received by or on behalf of a radio or television broadcaster domiciled outside Zimbabwe or an electronic commerce operator domiciled outside Zimbabwe.” Such a move was seen as a direct target to companies such as Netflix and Youtube which are becoming increasingly popular alternatives to traditional broadcasters. Nigeria has tried in previous years to ask local partners to withhold tax on revenues that are paid to non-resident companies. However, they met resistance due to the lack of clarity within the legislation. Considering that most of the payments are paid electronically, the cost and means of administering such a tax will be relatively efficient. The tax authority may lay the burden on banks to withhold the portion of the tax that is owed to the government. This will not need foreign companies to then remit payments made from Zimbabwe as it has already been deducted the moment the transaction is effected. Whilst most European countries have seamlessly adjusted their tax systems to include VAT for sales made online, most if not all African countries are still lagging behind. Therefore, one can buy goods through a platform such as Ali-Express without having to pay the same VAT they would have been subjected to if it was from a local company. Is it an unfair tax or levy? Companies that also offer services such as advertising do also pay VAT which a local services company may have to pay in the country in which they are based. This then puts them at a disadvantage compared to their foreign counterparts selling the same product or service. It favours expanding a foreign economy more than local companies. See Also: Facebook Introduces Local Language Coverage to Combat Fake News in Africa Paul Martin, UK head of retail at KPMG, said: “The digital services tax . . . holds the greatest potential to rewrite how the retail game is played. Online marketplaces have often been able to rise above the problems faced by traditional legacy players or independents.” Do African countries have the muscle to enforce the tax against online companies? The Trump administration has responded to France’s introduction of the tax levy against online companies with its usual song of tariffs and retaliation. They have promised to make an investigation on whether the tax is discriminatory and restricts American commerce. Whilst it has every right to look at how the tax may harm American commerce, the Americans tend to look the other way about the effects of the actions of online companies on other economies. The small retailer in Harare is already at a disadvantage, the local company in Zimbabwe which is subject to taxes that the U.S. giants are not subject to is not able to compete at the same cost. Dave Lee, BBC North America technology reporter commented on the issue and agrees that the overhaul on the global tax system is now overdue. Whilst France has been left exposed, it is hoping that more countries can be rallied to its cause. EU-wide adoption failed as countries such as Ireland did not come on board as they have managed to lure tech companies to set up their European bases in the country. However, it is not every country that has had this advantage. A move by a powerhouse such as France offers hope for African countries who are looking to move in the same direction. It can be the opportunity to bring the issue for discussion on a global scale and allow both sides of the aisle to find a consensus.

Source: Dey there

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