Welcome to BRC’s monthly series on Tax Highlights in Nigeria. September 2019 was a busy month in the tax space in Nigeria. Here are five (5) major events that shaped the Nigeria tax space in September 2019. Businesses in Nigeria will be required to pay a levy of 0.005% of net profits as Nigeria Police…
Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has issued a regulation on the automatic exchange of information with 112 countries (2022) on financial accounts. The co-operation of tax authorities in different countries will help to reduce tax evasion and enhance the reliability of tax systems. Otherwise, a person may refuse to comply with local tax obligations and…
Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has issued a notice on how it intends to recover unpaid tax from certain companies. These are companies that are yet to regularize their tax affairs despite the lien placed on their corporate bank accounts. The notice serves as a final reminder as FIRS raised a public alert earlier in…
Recently, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) revealed its plan to impose VAT on online transactions in Nigeria. Value Added Tax (VAT) is a tax imposed at 5% on the cost of goods and services supplied in Nigeria except for items specifically exempted or zero-rated under the VAT Act. A taxable person will charge and…
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…
Businesses engaged in cross-border transactions must address the impact of their operations in another country. One of the vital issues is international tax, including double taxation and transfer pricing adjustment. This could lead to a tax dispute between a taxpayer and the tax authority in the home country and foreign country. The tax risk of…
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has started to enforce compliance with the Income Tax (Country-by-Country Reporting) Regulations (2018) in Nigeria. Under the Country-by-Country Reporting (CbCR) Regulations, multinational enterprises (MNEs) should provide the total details of income, tax paid, and economic activity in tax jurisdictions where the MNE conducts business. MNEs are also required to…
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…
Taxpayer identification number (TIN) is essential for opening a corporate bank account in Nigeria. A tax resident who supplies goods or services is expected to apply for TIN with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). Thereafter, a taxpayer uses TIN for tax payment and filing of returns due to FIRS. Recently, FIRS identified 6,772 businesses having an…
Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has revised the Transfer Pricing Regulations in Nigeria. First, the new scope of Transfer Pricing Regulations (TPR) includes related or associated transactions based on the provisions of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) Act and Value Added Tax (VAT) Act. This means FIRS may scrutinise related party transactions for likely VAT and…