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Oil Price Downturn: Nigeria Targets 5-year Stamp Duty Backlog Recovery

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The Federal Government has commenced moves to recover backlog of unremitted revenues to federation’s account through the Stamp Duty Tax in the last five years.

The government disclosed this on Tuesday at the official inauguration of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Audit and Recovery of Back Years Stamp Duties and the Launch of the FIRS Adhesive Stamp in Abuja.

President Muhammadu Buhari represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha, said stamp duty which has the potential to generate a trillion naira can become the second source of revenue after oil.

Consequently, the President also directed all institutions of government and related stakeholders to support the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Audit and Recovery to succeed on its assignment.

Mustapha said: ‘In the face of dwindling oil revenue, and the global shift away from oil dependent technological products, it is even more compelling now to begin to think out of the box in order to safeguard the future of our country. Therefore, this administration has resolved to widen the revenue base by activating stamp duties revenue collection which has been neglected for more than 20 years.

I hereby also direct and request that all relevant MDAs, particularly the Central Bank of Nigeria, NIBSS, MDBs, FIRS, NIPOST should give maximum cooperation to the Committee in the discharge of its mandate.”

In order to ensure transparency and accountability in the recovery of back year stamp duty, the President further directed that all recoveries made by the Committee be remitted to appropriate stamp duty account maintained by FGN with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Executive Chairman of FIRS, Muhammad Nami, disclosed that the Service has grown revenues from Stamp Duties by over 1,000 percent, totalling N66 billion in the first five months of 2020 alone, compared with N6 billion naira collected from January to May 2019.

Nami attributed the increase to the dynamism triggered by Finance Act 2019, sums warehoused by the CBN in respect of prior years, and the deployment of technology and stakeholders’ collaboration.

He said “The introduction of the FIRS Stamp Duties Adhesive Stamp will, among other things, plug the revenue sink-hole; enable proper accountability and transparency; simplify administration of Stamp Duties; and reduce disputes.”

In their remarks, Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, and Speaker, House of Representatives while commending the FIRS for its impressive revenue collection, and promised that the National Assembly would continue to acknowledge, encourage, and support the initiatives and efforts of revenue generating agencies of government through appropriate legislation.

In her remarks, the Honourable Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, highlighted the importance of Stamp Duty as a tax type, noting that it opens untapped revenue sources for increased revenue collection, while also acknowledging the role of the adhesive stamps in enhancing voluntary compliance by taxpayers.

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