FIRS tightens noose on deduction of stamp duty, CIT, others

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has tightened regulations regarding payments of Stamp Duty, Withholding Tax and Company Income Tax (CIT). This is in a bid to curb tax evaders or defaulters in the country.

Chairman, FIRS, Muhammad Nami, insisted that revenue collecting agencies must now deduct stamp duty, withholding tax and CIT from their contractors pay at the point of payment after which they are to send immediately same to the FIRS.

He said the money should be sent in lump sums rather than the staggered payments that are currently being sent in.

“This is better for everybody as we would all have to do less reconciliation and enforcement activities, and we can, therefore, use the saved time to expand the tax net,” he said.

Nami made known that a number of multinational companies operating in Lagos have not been paying CIT since 2011. He said that the FIRS was ready to track down the tax-evading firms and put them in the tax net.

“A number of multinational companies operating in Lagos State have not paid CIT since 2011 as they appeared to have perfected the illicit act of profit shifting to escape paying tax.”

Speaking further, the FIRS boss also urged the National Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and similar collecting agencies to increase their diligence in collecting offshore taxation from service providers based outside Nigeria.

“If you don’t take offshore tax from them, they will take it back to their countries and pay it there. But we need this money more in Nigeria to fight insecurity, build public infrastructure and provide social amenities for our people,” Nami said.