The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Tax payment

  • Designer makes case for prompt tax payment

    Designer makes case for prompt tax payment

    Celebrity fashion designer (Seyi Vodi), has advocated prompt payment of taxes to fast-track actualisation of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and accelerate infrastructural development in Federal Capital Territory.

    Vodi spoke during a visit to the Corporate Headquarters of Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS), where he filed his Annual Tax Return.

    He urged business owners in FCT and Nigeria to perform their duties by paying their taxes to facilitate development of the territory and nation.

    Vodi said tax payment is a key driver of development, noting increased compliance will boost capacity of government to meet citizens needs.

    “It is noble to pay your taxes because government uses the funds for infrastructural development and provision of public services to the people.

    “I urge my fellow business owners, especially tailors, to discharge this civic duty for progress of FCT and Nigeria.

    “I laud FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, for the progress. I have been a resident for the last 25 years. I know what FCT used to be and what it is today’’.

    “The infrastructural development under the present FCT Minister is unprecedented, particularly in road construction and security. The projects are visible; only the blind would fail to see how the capital city has been transformed,” he stated.

    Read Also: Our strategies for Tinubu’s victory in 2027, by Yilwatda

    In his remarks, the Acting Executive Chairman of the FCT-IRS, Mr Michael Ango, hailed the fashion designer for taking the bold step of voluntarily visiting the Service to file his Annual Tax Return without coercion.

    Ango described Vodi’s action as worthy of emulation by other business owners and high-net-worth individuals in the FCT, noting that he is the first High Net-Worth Individual to file his Annual Tax Return for the year.

    He appealed to the celebrity to extend the campaign for voluntary tax compliance among his peers, encouraging them to come forward and fulfil their civic responsibility for the progress of the territory.

    “The Minister has transformed Abuja into a world-class capital city, and citizens must support this progress by living up to their responsibilities so the FCT Administration will have adequate resources to do more,” he said.

    Ango also pledged that the Service would present Vodi with a letter of commendation in recognition of his compliance as the first High Net-Worth Individual to file his Annual Tax Return this year.

  • Understanding the Lagos revenue tax portal

    Understanding the Lagos revenue tax portal

    By Mobolaji Egbewunmi

    Tax payment is a statutory responsibility as entrenched in section 24 of the Nigerian 1999 constitution as amended. That section states that everybody who earns an income must declare the same to the authority and that this declaration must be honest. That is why tax payment is considered a civic responsibility.

    It is also a moral responsibility because we are morally bound to pay taxes so that the government can have the required resources to address identified gaps in infrastructural development, and also deliver on its social responsibilities.

    Holly Sklar said, “Taxes and levies are how the government pools resources for public health safety, security, education, infrastructure, research, intervention programs, and all social services”.

    Many do not know that when they default, the government can take them to court and upon conviction, can be criminally liable or forfeit their properties.

    Also, the government has the right to put a lien on your business as well as sanction you for community service and so on. You may even be denied access to some government services.

    It is important to stress that tax is a type of revenue, while revenue is an income that comes to the government be it through Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), federal transfers, capital gains, sales of assets, rents, leases, or grants and loans.

    So far there is an income in monetary terms, to offset your budgetary allocation, it is revenue. The tax falls under IGR, which includes Pay As You Earn (PAYE).

    Read Also: APC postpones Rivers elective congresses indefinitely

    Other revenues are IGR in nature but not taxes. This includes Motor Vehicle License, Building Permit, Land Title approval, and the Land Use Charge (LUC) among others. The LUC is a combination of your tenement rate, neighbourhood improvement levy, and ground rent.

    But then, one must stress that statutorily, if you do not earn an income and if you are a pensioner, aged and you are not into making any form of income; you are not entitled to pay tax.

    Aged pensioners are exempted from some levies and charges. For instance, an aged landlord will not pay for LUC provided the said property is not used for commercial or rental purposes.

    But if a retiree receives rental income from any property he has to pay the LUC on the property.

    Being the nation’s pacesetter, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu recently unveiled the Lagos Revenue Portal (LRP) as a way to make payment of taxes seamless in the state.

    The LRP is a revenue collection application in the simplest form.  The government understands the importance of “ease-of-doing -business” and wants to simplify the way citizens get these bills.

    Woodrow Wilson, the 28th US President, said “Simplification of the taxes and levies has become an immediate necessity”. LRP is, thus, a deliberate platform to intentionally improve the experience of payers in Lagos State.

    To put the implementation of LRP in proper context, if, for instance, you have a Land Use Charge (LUC) Bill to pay alongside other bills like LAWMA, LASEPA, Water Corporation, Vehicle Licensing, etc., instead of moving from one point to the other on a queue waiting for your bills, you will rather stay in the comfort of your office or home, log onto LRP and access your bills for all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) with a single-payer ID.

    This is possible because every bill that is generated by all MDAs is preloaded on LRP. So, you can now go independently to the revenue portal, as it offers a self-service option. You can go into the revenue portal to view your bills on a page and you can click and make payments to any of the revenue-generating agencies that have generated bills for you as a payer.

    It is a one-stop shop for revenue collection, especially for those in the non-tax category. The LRP is designed to make payment of taxes easy for everyone.

    It is simple, available, and confidential. It has a level of integrity in the course of deployment and it allows you to view your bills in real-time, download your payment history, download your remittance statement, and validate your payment so that you do not pay into the wrong hands.

    Part of the feedback before now is that payers sometimes cannot easily get their receipts. So, LRP has finally come as a succour to put a stop to all these challenges.

    An email address, revenueoffice@lagosstate.gov.ng, and lrp@lagosstate.gov.ng, where enquiries could be swiftly responded to have been created as part of efforts to ensure prospective taxpayers enjoy a seamless experience.

    Besides the LRP, the government has been deploying technology in diverse ways to ease the payment of taxes and ultimately to improve the ease of doing business.

    For instance, there is e-tax, the end-to-end application being currently used by the Lagos Internal Revenue Service (LIRS). It is a one-stop shop for tax administration.

    The role that e-tax is playing to the LIRS is what LRP will be playing to non-tax revenue. LRP will take the major stage for non-tax revenue.

    There is also an application called ‘Madam Shikini’, which is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot. It is about to be launched. It is an application where Lagosians can interact with a bot any time of the day.

    Despite all these efforts, there are still noticeable gaps and a need for improvement. Consequently, the government is working very hard on continuous improvements to achieve the global status of our dream. It may not be perfect yet, but work is ongoing towards ensuring improved compliance. It is a work in progress.

    On the issue of multiple taxation, although many are of the view that residents experience this, it needs, nonetheless to be emphasized that this is merely a perception issue. It is a misconception.

    We must reference the Act which is called the Taxes and Levies (Approved List for Collection) Act. The act is centred on what every tier of government can collect; it is a federal government law. It means that all revenue being collected in Lagos today is one way or the other legislated.

    I must give a practical example of how people perceive multiple taxation. Let us use, for instance, a barbing shop in a place like Ikeja as an example. Because the local government is empowered by that act to collect lock-up shop permits and radio licenses; local government consultants or their agents will approach the barber to pay for the permit and radio license. If the same barber wants to advertise his trade, he will be required to put out signage that requires the approval of the Lagos State Signages and Advertising Agency (LASAA).

     So, he will pay LASAA, as he experiences growth in his trade, he will employ five or more stylists, and he is expected to pay the Lagos Inland Revenue Service (LIRS) for their PAYE, based on the minimum wage rule. But if he pays below the minimum wage, he is not expected to pay LIRS. Then, LAWMA comes for his waste, and if he has a car, he is required to renew his vehicle license.

    That is just a simple scenario. It’s a circle that has legal backing. So, it is not multiple taxation. What we can clamour for is the harmonization and simplification of taxation.

    To conclude: it is important to urge Lagos residents to keep performing their civic responsibilities. Tax compliance is one of such. It is their taxes that make the difference in the state. Without it, there will be no development.

    •Egbewunmi is of the Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.

  • CIIN urges members on tax payment

    As the deadline for the Federal Government’s Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) draws near, the Chartered Insurance  Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) has advised insurance practitioners to pay their tax.

    Its President Mrs Funmi Babington-Ashaye, gave the advice at the VAIDS Awareness Lecture organised by the institute at NEM Headquarters, Lagos.

    She said the aim of the seminar sponsored by Risk Analyst Insurance Brokers was to create awareness among the institute stakeholders, such that defaulters, if any, could leverage the opportunity to make it up to government by paying their tax obligations.

    She said the penalties for not taking advantage of this window for those that would be caught, would be very severe.

    She noted that it is therefore important that they spread the word to encourage more tax compliance.

    She said: “The VAIDS initiative was motivated by several reasons. First, the unstable price of oil in the global market has serious negative implication for government revenue and its ability to meet its budgetary needs. As result, in 2018 for instance, the estimated budget deficit is N2.01trillion.To strategically seek ways of boosting its revenue from other sources and also bridge this funding gap, the VAID Scheme, became a compelling option.

    “Secondly, in many other countries, tax is the main source of government revenue whereas in Nigeria, tax does not currently play a significant role. For instance, the contribution of tax (all taxes) to GDP in Nigeria is six per cent whereas Ghana, Morocco, South Africa and Tunisia, respectively, have 15, 26.1, 26.2 and 30.3 per cent. Given the African continent’s average of 19.1 per cent, there is need to change this situation.

    She stressed that the fact that the payment of tax is a legal requirement and thereforemakes it mandatory for all persons to pay taxes on their legitimate income.

    She pointed out  that there is no direct relationship between the amount of taxes a citizen pays and the benefits he or she receives or enjoys.

    “Thus, payment of taxes is a civic obligation. It is the citizens’ contribution to the running of government and not an exchange process. With higher tax revenues, the government will be better placed to meet the needs of Nigeria’s growing population. If we pay tax, we can then hold the government accountable.

    “What the government has done with the VAID Scheme, therefore, is to provide a window for all tax defaulters or evaders to voluntarily declare their hidden or previously undeclared assets and income over which they have not paid taxes so that they can be appropriately taxed. In taking this decision, the government wants to forgive their previous sins of not paying taxes as well as waive the associated sanctions. It is more like a tax amnesty. The window which was opened on July 1, 2017 for nine months will close on March 31, 2018. The message is very simple, declare previously undeclared assets and income, pay appropriate taxes on them and you are good to go”, she added..

  • Only 600,000 Lagos residents pay tax out of 22m population- Ambode

    Only 600,000 Lagos residents pay tax out of 22m population- Ambode

    …Says State has not increased tax in 10 years

    Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode has identified the need for residents to adopt a willful approach to the payment of taxes as a means of addressing fundamental challenges confronting the State and accelerating development in all sectors and sections.

    Speaking at a sensitization workshop on 2017 Water Technology and Environmental Control Exhibition and Conference (WATEC) held at Ikeja, Governor Ambode said out of a population of 22million, only 600,000 Lagos residents are up to date in paying their taxes, and that such was not helpful to scale up provision of infrastructure and other amenities for the people.

    Responding to a suggestion from one of the participants at the workshop that the State Government should complete the ongoing shoreline protection particularly in the Lekki and Ajah axis as one of the ways to mitigate the impact of torrential rainfalls which caused flooding in the axis last week, Governor Ambode said in as much as government was willing to do such, it was being inhibited by its limited resources.

    He said: “Talking about protecting our shoreline, I want to tell you something. The ecological fund that someone talked about does not exist because the previous government, due to political consideration, never gave Lagos anything and protecting the shoreline runs into billions.

    “Even doing those groins not to allow the water to break cost a lot of money and then with frozen taxes in the last eight to ten years, there has not been any increase in taxes unlike in the United Kingdom for instance where any young person living there knows that once you start working at the age of 18, your civic obligation is that you must pay tax but here nobody takes it as their business that the new road I am using I need to pay something and so they only pay tax when they are inside the real tax net that is you are paying pay as you earn.

    “That is the only way we can catch you and so everybody takes it for granted that government will do it and there is nothing like government money, it is taxes that people are paying that you are asking for this shoreline protection, it is from the taxes that you are asking for us to de-flood, it is from the taxes that you are asking for us to do the roads and all that.

    “The number of people paying taxes in Lagos is less than 600,000 people and we are 22million and then 67 percent of the people living in Lagos are below the age of 35 and even the retirees, how much are they paying? They are on pension. So, you have to go through your nose and you want to be as compassionate as possible that in a recession, you don’t overtax people.”

    The Governor said it was time for a convergence between civic obligations and the ability of government to build trust by using taxes of citizens judiciously, just assured that his administration, within the available resources, would continue to invest in infrastructure and deliver good governance to make life comfortable and easier for the people.

    “What I am saying is that there must be a convergence between civic obligations and the ability of government to build trust and be able to tell people that you know what, the little that you are giving me, I will use it judiciously. When I use it judiciously and you see it overtime, trust me, if you pay more, I will do more.

    “Obviously, the vision is there, the plan is there but again it is not driven by anything than the citizens themselves and the area that we need improvement is for citizens to have trust or confidence that the taxes they are paying will be returned back in terms of infrastructure but I can tell you that I am also concerned; I see a lot of things I don’t like but I am inhibited by the amount of money I have,” Governor Ambode said.

  • Don seeks orientation on tax payment

    For President Muham-madu Buhari’s ‘Change Agenda’ to achieve its envisaged goals, the administration must, as a matter of priority, embark on national re-orientation of the populace on tax payment just as the citizens’ involvement in the budget implementation should be similarly stepped up, a Nigerian Professor of Economics at the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) and Managing Editor of the African Journal of Economic Policy, Professor Ademola Oyejide, has said.

    Professor Oyejide, an expert on monetary and international economics who served as Head of Department of Economics at the University of Ibadan between 1981 and 1985, spoke in the Oyo State capital on Tuesday while delivering a lecture entitled “Getting the Budget and the Economic Fundamentals Right in  a Regime of Change” under the auspices of the Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy (ISGPP).

    While noting that many of the internationally mandated good budgeting practices and procedures are captured by Nigeria’s Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) of 2007, Professor Oyejide lamented that the citizens’ expectations from the present government are yet to be met following the bureaucratic bottlenecks including ‘padding’ from some quarters, which greeted the preparation of the national budget.

    He described the budget as the primary instrument for the much-touted change but remarked that “in making such promises, the assumption was that you already have facts and figures of the cost implications of the electoral promises, having raised people’s expectations”.

    Professor Oyejide then stated that as federal government has now started working on the 2017 Budget, with President Buhari promising to present it to the National Assembly in September, all hands should be on deck while a strong economic team comprising experts should also be incorporated, to produce an enduring, all-inclusive budget that would stand the test of time.

    He said: “Budget is too important to be left to government alone as it plays a major role in helping government and the people to achieve their desires.

    To this extent, therefore, there is the need for citizenship direct involvement in budget preparation and implementation.

  • Lawyers, FIRS partner in tax payment

    Lawyers, FIRS partner in tax payment

    The Chairman,  Nigeria Bar Association, Abuja chapter, Agada Elachi has urged professionals to live up to their professional obligation by paying their taxes.

    The NBA chief who spoke in Abuja  on Legal Education at a one day workshop on taxation in Abuja, said,  all they want is to achieve, create, deepen and expand the knowledge-base of lawyers as far as  tax administration is concerned.

    He said: “As lawyers we must also lead the way in payment of taxes. We call on the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to work out a template that supports the payment of tax by Lawyers and other professionals whose earning portfolio are different are different from those in that of salary employment.

    “It is now common knowledge that the future of Nigeria can only be secured by the diversification of our revenue base. The need for taxation is apparent and the incoming government has made it a focal point.

  • E-tax payment… Promoting transparency in Tax Payment System

    E-tax payment… Promoting transparency in Tax Payment System

    Electronic-Taxpay is an online self-service tax payment system which gives taxpayers the opportunity to pay their taxes through their banks’ online payment portals. It is an initiative of FIRS in collaboration with Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS). It is meant to facilitate payments of taxes from the comfort of taxpayers’ offices or homes. Taxpayers can pay using the electronic channels provided by their banks such as the banks’ internet banking platform, branches and mobile banking platforms.

     

    Conditions to be met by taxpayer before using e-Taxpay platform

    • Register and obtain your Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN)

    • Have an account with any bank of your choice and subscribe to the internet banking function of your bank.

    • Have ufficient funds in the account to cover the tax liability/transaction.

     

    Steps to take to make payment through e-Taxpay platform

    Having registered and received a TIN, an active internet banking account and sufficient funds, then;

    • Decide the channel to use;

    • If you decide on internet banking channel, log on to your bank’s internet banking platform e.g.GTBank Online Banking, FirstOnline, etc;

    • In the case of GTBank Online Banking, select the “Payment” option in the menu;

    • Then select “NIBSS E-Bills payments” under the “Payment” option;

    • Select the account to debit from, to continue;

    • Once inside the NIBSS E-Bills payments, select “New Request” to start a new payment. This will take you to the NIBSS platform;

    • Then select “FIRS e-Taxpay” from the displayed list services that the NIBSS platform provides, in order to start the tax payment in particular;

    • You then enter your TIN (FIRS/JTB-TIN) or the TIN of the taxpayer you want to pay for;

    • Click “verify” to validate that the TIN belongs to the taxpayer making the payment;

    • A pop-up will appear with the TIN details. If ok, then go to the next stage;

    • Select the tax type (e.g. Company Income Tax, Pre-Operation Levy, Value Added Tax, etc.);

    • Enter the amount to be debited (tax sum being paid);

    • Accept service charge for the bank (if applicable);

    • Confirm that all the information provided are correct and valid;

    • Submit the request.

     

    After a successful transaction, the system will generate an ‘e-acknowledgement’ which can be printed online, or sent to a specified e-mail address. The ‘e-acknowledgement’ is a confirmation of the transaction of payment of tax to FIRS which would be presented to FIRS field office for the issuance of statutory FIRS receipt to the taxpayer. A TAXPAYER SHOULD PLEASE ENSURE THE ‘e-acknowledgement’ IS SUBMITTED TO THE TAX OFFICE OF DOMICILE TO GET A GOVERNMENT TAX RECEIPT FOR THE PAYMENT MADE.

    Real time notifications: The platform also notifies the taxpayer and FIRS through SMS alert and real time email. FIRS can view payment transactions and reports online, in real time.

     

    Tax types that can be paid using the e-Taxpay channel:

     

    e-Taxpay can be used to pay all tax types and levies collected by FIRS. They include:

    • Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT)

    • Education Tax (ET)

    • Companies Income Tax (CIT)

    • Value Added Tax (VAT)

    • Personal Income Tax (PAYE for residents of FCT and non-Residents)

    • Withholding Tax (WHT). This requires a schedule to be uploaded on the platform;

    • National Information Technology Development Fund Levy (NITDEF)

    • Capital Gains Tax (CGT)

    • Pre-Operation Levy (POL)

    • Stamp Duties (SD) and late filing penalty

     

    Documentation required when the taxpayer wants to pay tax:

     

    • Compute tax payable

    • Fill the relevant self-assessment forms

    • Prepare the relevant schedules

    • Make the payment (CIT/PAYE/WHT/VAT).

     

    Benefits of using e-Taxpay

    • Promotes transparency in tax payment system;

    • Boosts taxpayer confidence and trust in the tax system;

    • Promotes voluntary compliance by taxpayers;

    • Convenience, time and cost saving for the taxpayers as they can do it themselves within the confine of their offices without going to the banking hall.

    • The platform is safe and secure.

     

    Security of the e-Taxpay Platform

    The e-Taxpay service is safe and secure. The e-Taxpay platform leverages on the security measures provided by the service channels of the banks in addition to that of NIBSS and FIRS.

     

  • Tax payment not punishment, says Uduaghan

    Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan has said tax payment is not a punishment.

    Uduaghan, who spoke at the weekend when he inaugurated the reconstituted State Board of Internal Revenue in Asaba, said individuals and organisations should see the collection of taxes as their civic and moral responsibility.

    He emphasised that government was only enforcing the law as entrenched in the constitution and urged Nigerians to pay their taxes regularly to sustain infrastructural development in all sectors of the economy.

    Uduaghan said: “We should all pay our taxes and expect returns on the taxes through sustained tempo of the provision of infrastructure in all sectors of the economy.

    “In all societies, taxes are necessary to prop government’s revenue and shore up its expenditure, especially now that the world is coming to terms with the dire consequences of global economic meltdown”.

    The governor praised the Board of Internal Revenue for the increase in the average monthly internal generated revenue from N1.2 billion to N5.7 billion.

    He urged the board to explore all untapped sources of revenue in the state to boost the state finances.

    The Chairmanof the board, Joel-Onowakpo Thomas, thanked the governor for re-appointing the Board.

    He said the board would pursue the Delta Beyond Oil Initiative.