₦airaland Forum

A Lagos State Prosecutor, Mrs Y. A. Pitan, has told an Igbosere High Court in Lagos that former Super Eagles captain, Austin Okocha, has not liquidated the alleged tax debt he owed the state. Pitan told Justice Adebayo Akintoye on Tuesday that Okocha had visited the Lagos Internal Revenue Service office but failed to settle the 2017 income tax.
“The LIRS informed us that the defendant (Okocha) visited their office. He went there to reconcile accounts but has not settled yet,” she said. The prosecutor said the former footballer had also failed to appear in court since Oct. 5, 2017 when the case first came up. Okocha, who was not in court, was not represented by any lawyer either and the judge renewed the warrant for his arrest for the third time. Akintoye, who had earlier issued arrest of warrant to Okocha on Jan. 29, adjourned the case until Oct. 10 for further directions. Earlier, the prosecutor had filed a three-count charge against Okocha on June 6, 2017, accusing him of failure to furnish LIRS return of income for tax purposes, and failure to pay income tax. He said the offenses contravened Section 56(a) and (b) of the Lagos State Revenue Administration Law No. 8 of 2006. The prosecutor said the offenses also contravened Section 94 (1) of the Personal Income Tax Act Cap P8 Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004 (As Amended).

Source: Punch

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Benue State Internal Revenue Service (BIRS) has fingered politicians, traditional rulers and local government officials in the state over collection of illegal taxes in the state. It also said that no fewer than 76 persons had so far been arrested by the board in connection with the setting up of illegal road blocks in the state.
Terzungwe Atser, the BIRS chairman, who disclosed this during a press conference in Makurdi on Monday, also said the agency had been netting an average of N600 million monthly. He decried the activities of illegal tax operators, which he said, had been hindering the smooth running of business in the state. Atser observed that four major betting companies had left the state as a result of the activities of the illegal operators, while more organizations, among them Nigeria Brewery Limited (NBL), brewers of ‘MORE Lager Beer’ might pack up over illegal taxation. He fingered politicians, traditional rulers and local government officials, who he said, were in the racket of collecting illegal taxes, adding that the board was currently investigating the alleged involvement of such persons and would soon make public their names. The BIRS boss further observed that the high profile persons involved in the collection of illegal taxes had been a clog in the wheel by intervening whenever their boys were arrested.

Source: Independent

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AS the first term of President Muhammadu Buhari winds up within the next nine days, it is understandable that Nigerians are looking back at the passing four years to see if (and where) the “change” the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, promised showed up beyond mere propaganda. While the regime’s performance in the economic sector can at best be described as tepid, two federal institutions stood out by dint of their internal innovative initiatives beyond the general template of the regime’s economic agenda as contained in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, ERGP.
These were the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, under its Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele and the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, under its Executive Chairman, Dr. William Babatunde Fowler. Emefiele, who has emerged as the first CBN Governor to be appointed for a second five-year term since the return of democracy in Nigeria in 1999, earned his place in the Buhari administration through the highly successful Anchor Borrowers Programme for agriculture (especially rice production). He also stabilized the Naira without compromising the steady growth of our external reserves. Fowler’s FIRS, on the other hand, has met the expectations of many Nigerians that he should take the “magic” he performed at the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service, LIRS, to Abuja. The FIRS has now become the Federal Government’s dependable organ for the steady accretion of non-oil, tax-based revenue to service the Federation Account. Fowler halted the instability that pervaded the FIRS since the tenure of Mrs. Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru ended in 2012. Former President Goodluck Jonathan had replaced her with Alhaji Kabir Mashi. But in March 2015, Mashi was replaced by Mr. Samuel Odugbesan who remained in acting capacity until he was replaced by Fowler. Whereas under Fowler, the LIRS increased from N600 million in 1999 to N20 billion per month in 2015, the FIRS moved from below N2 trillion per annum in 2015 to initial N3 trillion in 2016, N4 trillion in 2017 and N5.3 trillion in 2018, which is more than half of the 2019 Federal budget. In addition, through the Tax Identification Number, TIN, initiative, 45 million taxpayers have now been brought into the federal tax net. With the steady implementation of the ongoing innovations, the future of taxation assuming the lion’s share of federal revenue in place of oil is bright indeed. The Buhari regime has done a great job towards putting taxation in its proper place in our national economy. Indeed, Nigerian taxpayers can now genuinely look forward to priding themselves as the primary providers of government revenue for good governance and development. This will eventually augur well for accountability, safeguard against corruption and promote zero-tolerance for government ineptitude. We hope efforts will be made to foster continuity and consolidation in this sector.

Source: Vanguard

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Nigerian airlines have expressed their misgivings over Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) delay to implement President Muhammadu Buhari’s Executive Order on the removal of Value Added Tax (VAT) from all forms of shared transportation taxes paid by local operating in the country. This comes as the Minister of State for Aviation, Mr. Hadi Sirika, announced that the local airline industry recorded a 30 per cent growth in passenger patronage in 2018.
Sirika, who was speaking at an aviation stakeholders forum in Lagos at the weekend said passenger patronage grew in the last one year from 15 million to 18 million with the Lagos and Abuja airports gradually emerging as hubs in the West African sub-region. “More people are now flying in Nigeria and the country has recorded an average growth of 30 per cent on the domestic route,” Sirika said. However, the Secretary to the Airlines Operators of Nigeria (AON), Mr. Iroro Ewos, speaking at the same event, said growth would have appreciated if Customs and the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS), had executed a government directive to abolish VAT payment by local airlines to free up more funds for investments in more aircraft acquisition and routes expansion within and outside the country.
Ewos said VAT payment continues to add to an already bloated overhead for airlines stifling the ability to make returns on investment even as he expressed the optimism that its removal will see cost of air tickets crashed with more passengers flying on domestic routes. “Airline owners are concerned that despite the Executive Order, which was given about a year ago, airlines are still required to pay VAT due to the insistence of FIRS that they work with the law and they are yet to see a government white paper to that effect before they can suspend the collection of VAT from air transportation,” said Ewos. “We are optimistic that VAT abolition will encourage more people to travel as this would impact positively in the reduction of air fares and this will in turn promote increased air transport activity in the country and encourage greater contribution to the GDP,” added Ewos. According to him, “only investors in the air transportation sector pay VAT in Nigeria today as all other forms of shared transportation do not pay VAT including marine, road and rail transporters. “Our prayer is for the minister to please use his office to fast track the issuance of a white paper so that the removal of VAT will be a law and air travel volume can be encouraged just like Ghana did and we can all see the results today in that country,” he added.

Source: The Sun News

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It has been revealed that the number of taxpayers in Nigeria, which was at 10 million in 2015, is about to hit 45 million in 2019. Executive Secretary of the Joint Tax Board (JTB), Oseni Elamah, made this disclosure in Abuja on Monday, while presenting a report on the new Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) Registration System to Babatunde Fowler, in Abuja. The Joint Tax Board is led by Fowler who is also chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). According to Elamah, the FIRS fostered an uncommon collaboration between the States Internal Revenue Services (SIRS) and the FIRS resulting in several collaborative projects in the last five years.
He added that the ongoing integration of databases will fetch the nation a total of 45 million individual and corporate taxpayers. Elamah also said that the JTB has completed the building of a new TIN Registration System which is an integration of TIN numbers of various organisations in Nigeria, adding that the growth of the taxpayers’ database is a major flank of the goals of the JTB in collaboration with the apex tax authority, the FIRS. “When the integration of the new TIN Registration System is launched, it will afford prospective taxpayers the opportunity to register for tax from the comfort of their homes and print their registration certificate” Fowler said. Fowler expressed happiness over the completion of the new TIN Registration System and said that the system would encourage transparency, efficiency, and convenience in tax administration in Nigeria. “I congratulate the JTB for finalising the new TIN Registration System in record time. We now have a consolidated database for all taxpayers in Nigeria. “If you (a taxpayer) go to any other country or visit another state in Nigeria and they want to check your tax status, what this means is that they can check your tax status by a touch of a button. We want to assure all taxpayers that we are ready to serve them more with technology, convenience and accountability,” Fowler added. Speaking on the benefits if the system, Elamah said: “State Revenue Authorities are expected to enjoy immense benefits from the new TIN System”. “Among these are: Taxpayer Information Accessibility and Accuracy: the registration and recording of taxpayer information is one of the fundamental functions of tax administration and to a great extent, this will drive how other core administrative functions operate,” Elamah added. “The timely and accurate collection and recording of basic identifying information of the taxpayer will permit the tax administrator to understand its taxpayer base, staff itself accordingly and to effectively plan other core administration functions. The existence of an accurate taxpayer database will inevitably lead to effective compliance programmes observation. “The redesigned, development and deployment of a TIN system leverages on existing taxpayer data available from databases of multiple organisations like CAC (Corporate Affairs Commission, banks through BVN (Banks Verification Number), Identity Card Management Commission and other. “It is a web-based solution with centralised management of all the various functions of the TIN registration system offering and accessible to authorized users of the system for reviews and approvals of registration requests, TIN certificate issuance and integration with relevant stakeholders. “It makes possible integration and exchange of data with sister state Boards of Internal Revenue, FIRS and other third party organizations through web services”. According to JTB, there were 10,006,304 people registered for personal income tax purposes in all the states of the federation including the FCT as of 2015/6. Out of this, about 4.6 million or 46 percent were registered with the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS). Updated data, quoted by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo shows that only 14 million economically-active Nigerians paid taxes in 2017 — a number which increased to 19 million as at May 2018. Going by the latest disclosure from JTB, it is suggested that Nigeria’s taxpayers base will have increased by over 25 million in the when Nigeria eventually hits 45 million.

Source: Ripples

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Nigerian workers always posit that “their take-home pay does not take them home.” Such is the tale of the Nigerian worker – who lives miserly because he earns poorly. The Federal government of Nigeria has now remarkably increased workers’ minimum wage. The government has hinted that it will increase Value Added Tax (VAT) to fund the new wage. This suggests that government has no sufficient funding for national expenses which spurs certain necessary logical inquires: Given that citizens pay taxes to fund public utility, then, what exactly gulps government’s spending? Has Nigeria maximised revenue potentials and why so, if not? Also, should VAT increase?
Some countries have revenue problem, some others, have spending problem only. Nigeria has both. Additionally, Nigeria undergoes another third problem of a dangerously accelerating debt profile. Public debt accrues to N24.4trillion, presently. In three years only, external debt soared by $11.77bn at a percentile rate of 114.05 while over 50% of Nigeria’s revenue goes to debt servicing. The reality of a nation having to badly survive on borrowed money speaks volume of an ailing economy. For a stretched epoch, the dominant source of Nigeria’s revenue has been the crude oil. Once, the country accrued significant revenue through agriculture but the crude oil soon displaced it. Inescapably, a need arose to diversify income due to the volatility of oil prices globally. Government implemented tax laws and tax reform policies intermittently. VAT was introduced, FIRS launched electronic tax remittance system, recently, government established the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) through which it purposed to generate USD1 billion by waiving criminal prosecution and other penalties for taxpayers who willingly report undeclared income. Despite the reforms, nothing really has changed. Tax remittance is yet enmeshed in long-drawn-out procedures, tax laws and tax policies are disjointed and cumbersome, there is low tax education as a result, also, multiplicity of taxes and ultimately, revenue is yet low. VAT is charged at 5% presently, a rate which government has argued is low. But given Nigeria’s economic condition, there are no justifications to increase the rate. According to Steve Hanke, Nigeria ranks sixth most miserable country in the world, world poverty clock says more than 91 million Nigerians, close to half of the country’s population, live in extreme poverty and every one minute, six Nigerians become poor. VAT is tax charged on the purchase price of a commodity. With VAT increase, prices of goods and services are bound to soar and such decision would be ill-intended and detrimental. The therapy to the dwindling Nigerian economy is for the country to urgently refashion itself to become a competitive producing economy. Any nation must solve three basic life problems: what to produce, how to produce and for whom to produce. Need for goods and services cannot end. Nations which meet these needs acquire economic strength. During the period of oil boom, Nigeria garnered massive wealth, because it met the oil demand, even though in crude form. Notably, industrialisation fuels production because earth-moving vessels will outdo easily, cheaply and quickly too, what a hundred people will do manually. To gain technical know-how into the workings of complex machines and to be able to build new ones, human capital is essential. This is why qualitative education is non-negotiable for Nigerians. Education should be accessible for all and schooling curriculums should tilt towards technical and technological brainstorming. That way, Nigeria’s vast population would become its fortune. Taxation can even turn in more. strategic coalesce of the numerous tax categories would enhance simplified tax procedures and tax education. The law should also fully have a free course against tax evaders. Much as Nigeria needs revenue boosting, the country needs to be circumspect with spending; and this is a problem with both government and citizens. Enough of depleting foreign reserve by importing $18 million toothpicks yearly or $400 million tomato pastes or ridiculously continuing to import Pizza from the UK. The country has to drop the inglorious notoriety of running an expensive government at the expense of a meteoric debt profile. There is a limit to which any government anywhere in the world may forge ahead with an adverse policy under the guise that implementing such policy is in the best interest of the people. When President Macron of France declared that a climatic policy would inform fuel tax increase, the president’s popularity quickly declined, with citizens finding the tax policy unfavourable. In no time, rowdy crowd wearing Yellow Vets littered France in protest. Raising VAT to fund wage increase is mixed blessing and whether yellow vests or a yellow card, it will elicit a thumbs down from the Nigerian masses that are already bearing the brunt of economic hardship and need rescue.

Source: The Sun


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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) have taken opposing positions on revenue remittances by the latter to the Federation Account domiciled with the apex bank. Their disagreement emanates from a shortfall in revenue generated from Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Value Added Tax (VAT) and Company Income Tax (CIT), amounting to N26.703billion which the FIRS claimed it remitted to the Federation Account between December 2018 and January 2019. While the FIRS reported that N321.23 billion as total PPT and CIT collections for December 2018 was remitted to the Federation Account with the CBN, the apex bank’s component statement showed that N294.62 billion was received from FIRS during the period.
The CBN figure showed a shortfall of N26.61 billion of the amount the FIRS claimed it paid into the account. The document, revealed that FIRS allegedly posted N199.16 billion as total PPT and VAT collections in January 2019 while the CBN component statement to the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) post-mortem sub-committee indicated that FIRS paid N199.07 billion, which was a shortfall of N90.88 million. The post-mortem sub-committee of FAAC which extensively deliberated upon the reason for the differences between the two agencies could not resolve the matter at its last monthly meeting held at the Board Room of Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Committee (RMFAC) on April 24, 2019. The committee, therefore, directed the two agencies to meet and reconcile their accounts and report back at the next meeting. The meeting was attended by representatives of RMFAC, commissioners of finance and accountants-general from the six geopolitical zones as well as representatives of some revenue generating and accounting agencies.


Source: Leadership

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If the country is to reduce unemployment and stimulate economic growth, the federal government has been advised to take bold steps which includes raising the Value Added Tax (VAT). Proshare, an online financial information service hub, stated this in a report titled: ‘Proshare Confidential,’ obtained yesterday.While the report stressed that in times of slow growth, economists would typically not prescribe raising taxes, it stated that since Nigeria currently has the lowest VAT in West Africa at five per cent, the government could be bold to increase the tax by at least 200 basis points, pushing the rate up by two per cent.
It noted that if this is implemented, the government should therefore concentrate the additional revenue in infrastructural developments that helps to drop the cost of doing business and citizen transactions to create headroom for consumption which would spur business growth. This, over a period of 36 months, it stated, could reduce the cost of distribution of goods and services, thereby resulting in massive savings in logistics costs which could turn up as major improvements in corporate bottom lines and additional tax income; successfully closing the revenue-expenditure gap. “It’s all about productivity enhancement and not hand-outs to the most vulnerable in the society the way it is done. “You protect the most vulnerable by establishing public safety nets such as unemployment benefits, health services, state subsidised housing etc – all of which has to be paid for from the increase in productivity (translating to tax revenues), plugging of leakages through system/process improvements and adjusting the fiscal regime of taxes of tariffs to spur growth in the short term which will be clawed back to attain near equilibrium (illusory to get an optimum) as progress is attained,” the report stated. In its review of 2019, it described the year as a “watershed for several countries across Africa as they enter election cycles that could make or mar their future.” It pointed out that in Nigeria, the battle for the country’s political and economic soul has become vicious with every arm of government easy fodder for political henchmen determined to keep their paymasters, godfathers and muppets in the business of governance. Unfortunately, this it stated meant that Nigeria’s 2019 federal fiscal plan would be more of a concession to tradition rather than a programme of action to building a resilient economy that can sustain a population growth of 2.9 per cent per annum. It also faulted the federal government’s 2019 Appropriation Bill.

Source: Investors King


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The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) has lauded the pioneering roles being played by the pan-African conglomerate, Dangote Group in shaping the economy of Nigeria for the betterment of Nigerians and the benefit of other African countries. The Institute praised the management of the company for the giant strides it has been undertaking in manufacturing business to make the country self-sufficient in a number of commodities that would have otherwise made the nation spend huge foreign exchange in importing. President of the institute, Razak Jayeola, made these remarks when led the executive members of the body to the Lagos head office of the company on a courtesy visit.
He said the company has become a pride of Africa in its trail blazing efforts in manufacturing businesses like cement and sugar which had hitherto caused the country huge foreign exchange to import for which the nation is now self-sufficient and even now exporting. Jayeola also alluded to 650,000 bpd refinery currently under construction which would also save Nigeria foreign exchange which is presently being spent on importation of petroleum products. The institute particularly praised the ingenuity of the management led by Mr. Olakunle Alake, saying “It shows from all indication that he has skills laced with strategy with which he has been steering the company to profitability. “Dangote Group is a pride of Africa, its contribution to job creation is unquantifiable Nigeria has achieved self-sufficiency in cement and sugar through the efforts of the company, Nigerians can’t thank you enough,” the ICAN boss stated. He also explained some of the challenges being faced by the Institute and efforts being made by his leadership to turn things around, disclosing that the institute has commenced stakeholder’s to address its challenges. Jayeola explained that his leadership was looking towards application of information technology for accounting purposes and that an accounting technology conference has been scheduled as a start up towards the use of technology in accounting. In his response, the group managing director of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Mr. Olakunle Alake, who was also with some management members as well as some staff who are ICAN members, showered accolades on the ICAN leadership for its foresight and orderly manner it organizes institute. Alake explained that DIL is a quality organization that is always in search of quality which was why it company has a large number of ICAN members as staff. According to him, “ In Dangote, we are always trying to grow the economy and we believe that for the economy to grow, you must create jobs. A key element to be a producing nation, we must create a cycle of wealth. That is why we invest and reinvest. “In Dangote, we do not keep our dividends we use it for more investments, any nation that must grow must create jobs, that is why we touch people’s lives positively, we create wealth through job creation.” Alake challenged the government to look into wealth creation for Nigerians through massive job creation.

Source: Leadership

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The Society of Women Accountants of Nigeria (SWAN) has trained students of Nasarawa State University, Keffi (NSUK) on basic accounting skills in order to help them become successful entrepreneurs. The workshop featured paper presentations on the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) professional examination, Effects of Drug Abuse on the Youth and motivational interactive session with students. Chairperson of SWAN, Mrs Ijeoma Ugwunebo, who spoke in Keffi recently during the workshop themed: “Catch Them Young,” said the programme was aimed at catching students who have dreams in the accounting profession at a young age to grow the respect to their chosen career and their attitudes towards their career so that they can make positive impacts to their lives and become responsible members of the Nigerian society.
She charged the undergraduates in the accounting discipline to take advantage of the opportunity while still in school and to enroll in the professional examinations and the accounting technician skill so that upon their graduation they might have already become members of the accounting profession. According to her, the workshop became necessary in order to equip students with the basic skills of becoming successful entrepreneurs. “We educate the students on the need to start pursuing their professional qualifications early and choose ICAN because of the value of the certificate.” She noted that earning ICAN certificate would opens doors to a wide range of career opportunities in all areas of industry, commerce, finance and manufacturing sectors both locally and internationally and also allows them to specialise in a technical aspect of accountancy such as corporate recovery, forensic accountancy, corporate finance or taxation.

Source: Leadership

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The President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Mr Razak Jaiyeola, FCA and the MD/CEO Ecobank Nigeria Mr Patrick Akinwuntan believe digital technology will transform the Accounting profession. They both made this comment in separate interviews with Proshare WebTV on the sidelines of the maiden Accounteks summit in Lagos, organized by ICAN. The President of the Institute, Jaiyeola, said that the objective of the summit was to create awareness of the impact of technology in the accounting profession. According to him “Business models are changing, and because we account for those businesses it means that the way and manner of the accounts has to change but more than just accounting; it is creating another level of responsibility for accountants in the sense that we must start to create value in whatever we do”.
Jaiyeola stressed that the summit focused on how the accounting profession can create value through technology and reposition the profession to be more strategic and pragmatic in the digital age. With emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Big Data and Machine learning, the ICAN President was of the view that accountants have to adapt to disruptive innovations that will help them be more efficient at their tasks. He was happy that ICAN members got the message, he mentioned that the Institute would be announcing further programmes to consolidate on the knowledge of the deployment of technology to enhance the accounting practice. The MD/CEO of Ecobank Nigeria, Akinwuntan, on his part believed the summit exposed the accountants to the reality of technical issues, security issues and business issues surrounding digital platforms and the use of technology. Akinwuntan observed that the maiden Accounteks summit, provided an opportunity for the ICAN members to be classified more as ‘Thinking Accountants’, providing solutions to challenges in the financial services industry and economy. Speaking further he said “A lot of financial outcomes now depend on digital platforms both for transacting, for controls and for reporting activities because most of accounting entries now are generated using technology”. “Through technology Accountants can create value, drive efficiency which would continue to improve investor confidence and the credibility of the financial information provided for timely business and investment decisions” Akinwuntan said.

Source: Proshare

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Dr Abiodun Adedipe, a member of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, says that increasing tax rates is not the cure all for growing tax revenue in Nigeria. Adedipe, also a management and financial consultant, said this at a programme with the theme: “The Drivers, Enablers and Obstacles to Our Growth”, organized by Platform Nigeria in Lagos on Wednesday. “The situation is like flogging a dead horse. With the research we have made in taxation, we realized that when you raise tax rates, you will only have those in the tax net to bear that burden.
“Rather, we should creatively and innovatively think of how to bring those outside the tax net into the system. “There is a principle in economics that says people respond to incentives. Our tax system does not provide for redress. If I have any complaint about my tax, there is no window to present such complaint. We have to look into this. “Also, people willingly pay tax in other parts of the world because the taxes are working in their life. Nigeria needs leaders who are trustworthy, who the citizens can trust with their money and funds,” he said. Adedipe also suggested how the power problem in the country could be resolved and how to ensure adequate privatization of institutions. “In Nigeria today, when we privatize, we only convert public monopolists to private monopolists and so, they deliver no value like we have in the power sector. “We need to begin to add a clause for adequate capital when we privatize. If our DISCOs do not have the capital to do what they are supposed to do, there is a simple way to get the power sector in Nigeria to work. “Mandate the DISCOs to meter all consumers in the country. Once they do that the revenue they generate from estimated billing will drop. When this happens, they will sit up and they will realize that providing power to the entire value chain is relevant and critical to their revenue base. “There are lots of entrepreneurs who want to make money and they will realize that to make money, power needs to be generated. “That will, however, make the DISCOs not think about only themselves, but how to distribute power adequately to make money from consumers and with this we can solve the power problem,” he said. Adedipe said that a change of the Nigerian story was in the hands of the elite in the country and not the government. According to him, the elites are the well exposed but they act on enlightened self-interest and they have access to power but they abuse power. “The elites take loans and mostly, do not want to repay. There is over N5 trillion on AMCON’s balance sheet, which if we can convert only N2 trillion and put it into funding this economy, we will go some distance. “They love bailout when their money pots are drying up but make dubious arguments on subsidies that impact the bottom of the pyramid. “They also earn the most but pay the least taxes and levies and they also know how things should work in the country but pursue enlightened self interest always. “We need to stop talking ill of Nigeria and walk the talk and act accordingly,” he said.

Source: PM News

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The Nigerian economy appears to be facing a new threat as oil companies operating in the Niger Delta continue to face fresh opposition to crude oil export. This trend may impact projections negatively, CHIKA IZUORA,writes. The Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), is facing the burden of proving it is transparent in dealing with issues of tax remittances, having paid about N14.6 trillion to government coffers in the last nine years. CHIKA IZUORA examines the feud between the company and the Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), over issues of tax evasion.
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited, have been at loggerheads as a result of perceived conflict in the enabling Acts of both organizations: the Nigeria LNG (Fiscal Incentives, Guarantees and Assurances) Act 1990 on one hand; and Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency Act 2007, Merchant Shipping Act and Coastal and Inland Shipping Act on the other hand. The NLNG is one of the prime beneficiaries of the pioneer status policy of the federal government on gas monetization and flare reduction. The NLNG Act is based on initial terms of contract between government and private shareholders of the company. The NNPC holds overriding 49 per cent financial interest in the company, while Shell Gas BV owns 25.6 per cent operating interest. Also, Total has 15 per cent in the company, while Eni International N.V.S.a.r.l holds the remaining 10.4 per cent interest. The terms include incentives, concessions, guarantees and assurances in letters to lenders for the NLNG Trains 4 and 5 expansion by ministry of finance, ministry of justice and Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The main thrust of the guarantees and assurances are to assure protection of foreign investments by the non-breach of the NLNG Act which, in recognition of its sanctity, has been protected by all administrations of the federal government right from inception. The terms of the contract were modeled after similar packages of incentives flaunted by other competing countries such as Qatar, Oman, Malaysia, Angola, and others to attract investors in gas liquefaction and export. Expectedly, the legal frameworks, commercial incentives and sanctity of contracts built into the NLNG Act formed the springboard for the company’s rapid growth from a single train gas processing company to an efficiently run six train company with one of the healthiest balance sheets among biggest commercial enterprises in Africa. Section 2 of the NLNG Act provides the company tax waivers and other incentives for its investments in facilities to harness Nigeria’s gas resources for exports. But NIMASA contends that its establishment laws exempt only military vessels from its various revenue payments. Thus, whereas NIMASA insists that its levies were applicable to NLNG, the latter argues that fiscal incentives embedded in the NLNG Act exempt it from such levies and charges. A cross section of legal experts whose opinions were sought on the matter declared that whereas they did not have all the facts of the matter but stressed that when two laws that confer rights contend, the first in time takes precedence and consequently overrides the later.

Source; Leadership

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Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, a leading Nigerian indigenous oil and gas company listed on both the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) and London Stock Exchange (LSE), has announced the inauguration of the reconstituted Board of Directors of ANOH Gas Processing Company Limited (AGPC). The inauguration took place at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Towers in Abuja on Thursday, and is a targeted at delivering 300 million standard cubic feet of gas per day to the Nigerian market.
The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, inaugurated the reconstituted AGPC Board. The reconstituted Board reflects the 50 per cent:50 per cent shareholding of the Nigerian Gas Company Limited (NGC), which is a subsidiary of the NNPC, and SEPLAT. SEPLAT in a statement explained that: “Following the Partners’ completion of their first equity funding, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) applications were filed and approved for the change of Shareholders and Directors of AGPC in order to reflect the equal shareholding of NGC and SEPLAT.” The members of the re-constituted Board of Directors are: Engr. Saidu A. Mohammed (NNPC Chief Operation Officer, Gas & Power); Austin Avuru (SEPLAT’s Chief Executive Officer); Babatunde Bakare (NGC’s Managing Director); Stuart Connal (Managing Director, AGPC; Bala M. Wunti (NNPC Group General Managing, Corporate Planning & Strategy); and Gert-Jan Smulders (SEPLAT’s Technical Director). Following the inaugural ceremony, the new Board of Directors will proceed to hold its first meeting to consider and approve critical project activities. In his address at the inauguration, the Chief Executive Office, SEPLAT, Mr. Austin Avuru, appreciated the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) and the NNPC for the support they have given to the SEPLAT brand over the years as well as the AGPC. “I need to register our deep sense of gratitude for the nine years we have been in partnership with the NPDC. In the last three year under the current leadership of the NNPC, we have had a relationship that is non-acrimonious. For the first time, we are doing what people will probably be doing in the future,” he said. Avuru, who is also the vice-chairman of the AGPC, noted that in less than 24 months the partnership was formed, substantial funding had gone into the project. He added: “Half of the equity funding is already in the bank. Thanks to the GMD of the NNPC for making funding available.” Responding, Baru said the move was in line with the Corporation’s aspiration of the Gas Master Plan, which is to increase the supply of gas to the domestic market, adding that the ANOH gas project was conceived to deliver that. The NNPC GMD said: “We believe a private sector-driven project should deliver a mandate faster that a public-led one. According to Baru, finances should be provided not to only fund projects but to also acquire requisite expertise. The Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power, NNPC and chairman of AGPC, Saidu Mohammed, on behalf of the company’s Board of Directors, thanked the NNPC GMD for inaugurating the board. “This is a journey we have started and we will continue to grow,” he added.

Source: National Wire

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DMS and website provider Click Dealer has been officially included in HMRC’s ‘Software in Development’ list for submitting VAT returns digitally. Through its award winning ClickDMS software, Click Dealer is now ideally suited to help dealers comply with the new ‘Making Tax Digital’ regulations. For dealers over the £85,000 VAT threshold, all VAT periods that began on or after April 1, 2019, are required to be filed via a HMRC recognized platform, either by the dealers directly, or through their appointed accountants. Click Dealer is now warning that time is of the essence for those dealers that have not yet decided how they are going to comply with HMRC’s new regulations.
The main difference ‘Making Tax Digital for VAT’ brings for UK dealers is that the software must be capable of keeping and maintaining the records specified in the regulations. This software must also facilitate preparation of their VAT Returns using the information maintained in digital records and communicate with HMRC digitally via its Application Programming Interface (API) platform. From April 1, 2019, dealers who sign up to ‘Making Tax Digital for VAT’ (or agents signing up on behalf of dealer clients) need software that allows them to submit VAT Returns and keep records of sales and purchases. In recent times, it has become commonplace for dealers’ records and accounts to be stored digitally, utilizing software programmes on computers, tablets, Smartphone applications, or even maintaining them through these devices and storing them by using a cloud-based application. As ClickDMS is already setup and ready to assist dealers with meeting the ‘Making Tax Digital for VAT’ regulations, the independent dealer performance partner can help dealers to comply with the new VAT notice straightaway. If dealer’s digital records are up to date, ClickDMS will be able to collate and prepare their returns. Via one simple push of a button, ClickDMS displays the return and asks dealers to declare that it is correct, before confirming that they want to submit it to HMRC. Dealers will then receive confirmation that they have submitted their return successfully. Click Dealer director and head of customer care Pippa Rawlinson, pictured, said: ‘We’ve been working hard in the background to ensure that ClickDMS is setup to make compliance with HMRC’s ‘Making Tax Digital for VAT’ regulations as easy as possible for our dealers. ‘The process we now have in place ensures a seamless journey for dealers, who can submit their VAT digitally by the click of a button within ClickDMS. ‘Our dealers can rest assured that we will help them every step of the way, we don’t do fear mongering and will work with them to ensure that they remain compliant!’

Source: Magazine

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The Rivers State Internal Revenue Service said on Monday that it would soon begin to collect taxes from roadside traders and others from the informal sector in the state. Chairman of RIRS, Adoage Norteh, who disclosed this to newsmen in Port Harcourt, explained that the agency was planning to meet with various trade groups, including transporters and petty traders, to sensitize them on the decision. Norteh pointed out that the agency would collaborate with the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Environment, State Waste Management Agency and other relevant agencies, in order to actualize the new tax plan.
He insisted that collecting tax from roadside traders and others in the informal sector would not amount to double taxation and added that no trader would be harassed as hoodlums would not be allowed to be part of those on tax drive. He said, “The idea of this meeting this morning is to unveil the new tax plan that we intend to carry out. It is not like we are not continuing with what we are doing, but we are going to face the informal sector. “The informal sector is where most of these people that do not have organized businesses belong. The challenge we have had in our system is that not a lot of persons understand what tax is. “People think that tax is for some people, especially those who are working. For those who work in the media, your tax is deducted when your salary is being paid. But for the person who is in the informal sector and makes more money than those working; he thinks he should not pay tax. “The other part is that there is a lot of confusion over what is a tax and a levy. If you have to pay something for putting your store somewhere, that is not a tax; that is a levy. If you like, call it dues for putting your store there. Describing multiple taxation's as a thing of the past in Rivers, Norteh noted that the state would never engage in multiple taxations. “There is a lot of noise about multiple taxation's. In the Rivers State Revenue Service, we don’t engage in multiple taxations. “Multiple taxations have become a thing of the past since we came on board. We insist that people should not be harassed provided they do the right thing,” the RIRS chairman added.

Source: Investor  

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The Federal Government on Monday said the new Tax Identification Number Registration system would boost the total number of taxpayers in the country to about 45 million. Mr Oseni Elamah, the Executive Secretary, Joint Tax Board, disclosed this during the presentation of the new TIN registration system report to the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, who also doubles as JTB Chairman, Mr Tunde Fowler. Elamah attributed the improvement to the collaborative efforts between the JTB and the State Internal Revenue Services. He said the integration of the databases across government organizations in the country would raise the number of individual and corporate taxpayers to around 45 million. The total number of taxpayers in the country was put at 19 million as at the end of December 2018. He further revealed that the JTB new TIN Registration System, which is an integration of TIN numbers of various organizations would help enhance the organization. He said, “The registration and recording of taxpayer information is one of the fundamental functions of tax administration and to a great extent, this will drive how other core administrative functions operate. “The timely and accurate collection and recording of basic identifying information of the taxpayer will permit the tax administrator to understand its taxpayer base, the staff itself accordingly and to effectively plan other core administration functions. “The existence of an accurate taxpayer database will inevitably lead to effective compliance programmes observation.” According to the board, the new TIN system leveraged on existing database of taxpayers from organizations such as banks through the Bank Verification Number, National Identity Card Management Commission, Corporate Affairs Commission and others. Speaking on the new TIN system, Tunde Fowler, said the new system would ease the process of payment for taxpayers. He said, “When the integration of the new TIN Registration System is launched, it will afford prospective taxpayers the opportunity to register for tax from the comfort of their homes and print their registration certificate. “We now have a consolidated database for all taxpayers in Nigeria. If a taxpayer goes to any other country or visit another state in Nigeria and they want to check your tax status, what this means is that they can check your tax status by a touch of a button. “We want to assure all taxpayers that we are ready to serve them more with technology, convenience and accountability.”

Source: Investor

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Nigeria’s three tiers of government – federal, states and local government councils – shared N617.6 billion as federal allocations for March 2019. A communiqué issued by the Technical sub-committee of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC), at the end of its meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, said the gross statutory revenue received was about N446.6 billion. The figure is lower than the N478.4 billion received in the previous month by about N31.7 billion. Also, the revenue generated from the Value Added Tax (VAT) stood at about N92.2 billion, which showed a marginal decrease of about N4.2 billion from the N96.4 billion generated the previous month.
There was also N653 million foreign exchange gain; about N13 billion from Foreign exchange Equalisation; N55 billion from Good & Valuable Consideration as well as N10 billion added by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The total distributable revenue for the month came to about N617.6 billion. Consequently, from the net distributable revenue for the month, the federal government received about N257.8; states, N168.3 billion; local government councils, N126.6 billion. The oil-producing states got N49.8 billion as 13 per cent derivation of mineral revenue.The cost of collection, transfer and Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Refund was about N 15 billion. Also, the distribution of the Value Added Tax (VAT) realised showed the federal government received N13.3 billion, representing 15 per cent; states, N44.2 billion or 50 per cent, while the councils got about N31 billion or 35 per cent. The breakdown of allocation from the statutory revenue generated showed the federal government took N208.4 billion or 52.68 per cent; states, N105.7 billion; councils, N81.5 billion. Other details showed the crude oil export sales increased by about 49.18 per cent due to the increase in lifting volume. This resulted in increased federation revenue by about $240.23 million. The average crude oil price increased from $63.62 to $79.06 per barrel. However, lifting operations were adversely affected by production shut-in, shut -down at various terminals due to technical issues, leaks and maintenance. The committee said there was also a remarkable increase in revenues from oil royalty; import and excise duties increased, while Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) decreased significantly including Companies Income Tax (CIT).

Source: Premium Time

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An indigenous company, Biatemp Ventures Ltd., has sued First Bank of Nigeria and the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS), demanding N25 billion for special and general damages over alleged manipulation of its domiciliary account and illegal withholding of its tax clearance certificate. In the suit filed before the Federal High Court, Abuja, the company is also seeking the sum of N25 billion for special and general damages arising from the alleged manipulation of the account, business losses due to its withheld tax clearance and embarrassment suffered.
In the suit filed on behalf of the plaintiff by Adegboyega Awomolo chamber, the company alleged that First Bank manipulated its domiciliary account with a purported turnover of $6.8 million (about N2.4 billion) leading to the withholding of its 2018 tax clearance by FIRS. The plaintiff said the alleged manipulation of the account was discovered by FIRS intelligence findings when it filed its 2018 tax return forms and awaiting issuance of its tax clearance certificate. The plaintiff stated that rather than issuing the certificate, FIRS accused the company of grossly understating its income. Specifically, the federal revenue collection agency said its intelligence unit discovered that the company had a turnover of over $6.8 million in its corporate account, which was withdrawn by its Chief Executive Officer in about four respective transactions. FIRS, therefore, requested the company to pay a revised tax liability of about $439,000 before the tax clearance could be issued. The plaintiff said it was shocked with the discovery by FIRS because the company never transacted, deposited and withdrew amount of that magnitude in its domiciliary account within the period. It said the deposit made to its domiciliary account within the period was only $22,475 being consultancy fee paid by its client, Forte Upstream Services Ltd.

Source: Sun news

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