One of the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is to increase Africa’s trade in the international marketplace. Through a mutual agreement among member countries, Africa can create sound policies for trade negotiations with other continents. AfCFTA took effect on 30 May 2019. The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) signed the agreement…
The Court of Appeal has overruled the decision of the Federal High Court (“FHC”) in Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc (“Stanbic”) vs Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) & Anor (2015), which declared that failure to get approval from NOTAP for the registration of a contract made the contract illegitimate and invalid. Hence, Stanbic could not…
The Federal Executive Council has approved a rate of 0.2 percent on qualifying imports coming into Nigeria from the African Union (AU) countries. This approval is a sequel to the decision reached at the AU Summit for Heads of States and Government in July 2016 wherein all Member States were requested to implement a 0.2%…
In Nigeria, the government generates revenue from the taxation of individuals and businesses. Nevertheless, the Federal Government of Nigeria may exempt a business from corporate income tax for a specific period. This type of tax exemption is known as a Pioneer Status Incentive (PSI). The Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) administers the pioneer status incentive….
Under the Pension Reform Act (2014), only employers with 15 employees and above are required to contribute to the Pension Scheme. The Act further provides that private organizations with less than 3 employees will be governed by guidelines. There is now a proposed guideline for this category of employees. The National Pension Commission (PenCom) launched…
Food. Clothing. Shelter (Housing). These are three basic needs of human beings. Housing is one of the key parameters for measuring the standard of living as well as the social status of a person. Housing is a product and a process. As a product, housing refers to the output of the construction work. In contrast, housing, as a…
New companies in Nigeria are expected to file their first set of tax returns in line with the commencement rule. However, the Finance Act (2019) has changed the tax narrative. New companies, with effect from 13 January 2020, can now file their corporate tax returns on a preceding year basis. At this point, you must…
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has started issuing Notice of Refusal to Amend (“NORA” or “the notice”) to companies with open tax audit exercises. Companies affected by the notice include; taxpayers that have previously objected to FIRS demand notice and taxpayers that have resolved some queries during tax reconciliation meetings. FIRS expects these companies…
The Federal Internal Revenue Service (FIRS) has postponed the freezing of bank accounts of taxpayers who are yet to pay tax. In its letter issued to banks and dated 15 February 2019, FIRS agreed that the suspension was important due to administrative reasons. However, the suspension lasts for 30 days with immediate effect. Earlier, FIRS…
Six months ago, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) appointed banks as agents of defaulting taxpayers an annual bank turnover of NGN1 billion. The goal was to freeze the bank account balances and distrain properties of tax debtors. Now, FIRS intends to recover tax debts from 40,000 businesses with the help of banks and the…