May 20, 2019

The Tax Appeal Tribunal on Tuesday adjourned until July 17, hearing in the suit filed by Joseph Daudu, SAN, challenging alleged N1.2 billion error in taxation. Mr Daudu (appellant) said he was dissatisfied with Federal Inland revenue Service (FIRS) assessments of his Withholding Tax (WHT), Personal Income Tax and Value Added Tax (VAT) for the period from 2010 to 2017. Specifically, he expressed dissatisfaction with the decision to assess him with respect to WHT and VAT in the sum of N 1. 2 billion. He prayed the tribunal to restrain FIRS. The tribunal, presided over by Alice Iriogbe, adjourned after applications by parties were taken. Mrs Iriogbe had advised the appellant counsel to look for an alternative way to solve the problem of the appellant not coming to testify for himself to avoid waste of time. She then adjourned until July 17 for hearing. Earlier, Abedayo Adedeji, counsel for Mr Daudu, told the tribunal that they were served with some documents by FIRS and they needed to respond. He notified the tribunal that the appellant would like to be at the tribunal by himself but he was still not fit he also presented the medical report to attest for that. Mr Adedeji further informed the tribunal that the appellant needed to be in the tribunal because some of the issues are personal which he needed to clear. His application was for additional witnesses on oath and time to enable the appellant to be in the tribunal and testify for himself. In his response, Taiwo Osipitan, SAN, counsel for FIRS, told the tribunal that the ill health of the appellant was touchy having been served with the medical report and so they are not objecting. He also applied for extension of time to regularize the documents. He said the motion was filed on May 14, but they could not bring some of the documents. Mr Osipitan said in that case, those documents that were not brought would be abandoned. Mr Adedeji earlier, claimed that it was a misnomer for the appellant, who operated a law firm as a legal practitioner and did not deal in primary goods, to be assessed on Withholding Tax (WHT). “It is unheard of for a legal practitioner to pay Withholding Tax, the respondent acted in error when it assessed the appellant on individual Income Tax from 2010 to 2017,” he said Responding, FIRS noted that its assessments were not in error and that it was discovered that the appellant did not deduct and remit WHT on some of the expenses and payments made under the period in review. The service, therefore, prayed the tribunal to declare that the notices of assessments issued on the appellant for 2010 to 2017 assessment was right. It also urged the tribunal for an order mandating the appellant to pay the total sum of N1.2 billion being the appellant’s liability for WHT, Personal income tax and VAT for 2010 to 2017 years of assessment. FIRS stated that it rightly assessed the appellant; acting in accordance with the law and by collaborating with EFCC on non-declaration of income as well as tax evasion.   Source: Premium time

Nigerian citizens are ready to pay their taxes given proper education and expenditure transparency on the allocation and application of resources by the government, according to a new survey by the Nigeria Economic Summit Group. The survey, Citizen Perception Report is the first of several research pieces to be published by the NESG Fiscal Policy Roundtable in support of its tax reform and advocacy vehicle “Better Tax” supported by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. During the launching on Wednesday, Dr Sarah Alade, Chairman, NESG Fiscal Policy Roundtable, said, the core concept of the roundtable was to reflect the needs and objectives that form the basis of a robust fiscal reform platform focused on mobilizing and growing the country’s tax revenue. According to Dr Alade, data from the Citizen Perception Survey reinforces the appalling level of fiscal responsibility in taxpayer education, which fuels apathy and low morale among taxpayers. She said, “beyond the general clamor for increasing revenues and the correlation with higher tax rates, there are other issues around taxpaying in Nigeria. There is the presumption that the Nigerian citizenry is apathetic to the payment of taxes, which makes the findings of the Citizen Perception Survey crucial.” The findings show that Nigerians are not averse to taxpaying given proper education and expenditure transparency on the allocation and application of resources by the Government. Fiscal Policy Roundtable Co-Chair Dr Doyin Salami, who was represented by Taiwo Oyedele – PWC West Africa Tax Leader and Research Director NESG Fiscal Policy Roundtable said the government had been unable to meet recurrent and capital expenditures following a budget deficit of N3.8 billion and debt profile of N22.7 billion. Oyedele, who shared evidence-based data from the Citizen Report during his technical presentation at the event, disclosed that “low tax compliance results from tax complexity, crisis of trust in the government and inadequate social contract deliverables; while tax officials were constrained by inconsistent tax policies, limited resources, unrealistic targets, and inability to influence service delivery, among others”. Citing the data from the Citizens Perceptions Reports, he said that over 70% of Nigerians believe that “it is not wrong to pay taxes”. This sentiment is fuelled by the issues around the social contract between the government and the citizenry.   Source: Pulse

The Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM) on Thursday commended the Federal Government for the removal of Value-Added Tax (VAT) on locally sourced Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). The NALPGAM President, Mr Nosa Ogieva-Okunbor, said on Thursday in Lagos that the Federal Government had approved the removal of VAT on LPG and gazette the same. According to him, the clamor for VAT removal from domestically produced LPG, otherwise known as cooking gas, has been of perennial concern to members of the association. “We express our profound gratitude to the Federal Government and all relevant government agencies for listening to our plea to remove VAT from LPG products sourced locally. “We also want to use this opportunity to thank and appreciate the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) for its timely directive stopping the inappropriate and indiscriminate installation of skid plants in petrol stations,’’ Ogieva-Okunbor said in a statement. He said the directive that all skid plants in filling stations be dismantled and removed was apt, considering the huge danger they constitute to the public in the operations. He appealed for a proper and thorough implementation of the directive across the country. The NALPGAM boss urged government to create a more conducive and enabling environment for investors in the industry, particularly now that deepening the consumption of LPG in the country had become one of its major interests. He said marketers were also geared toward ensuring the success of the programme by complementing government’s efforts. “We appeal for a reduction on the import duty on LPG equipment and accessories. “The increased awareness of LPG usage has seen consumption in Nigeria growing from 50,000MT in 2007 to over 600,000MT in 2018 with more indigenous investments in LPG bottling plants. “This will further ensure that majority of Nigerians enjoyed the convenience of the proximity of LPG refill or exchange points. “We implore the federal and state governments to initiate a well-funded social welfare programme to expand the usage of LPG,’’ the NALPGAM boss said.   Source: Leadership