Business News
FIRS to brace up on tax compliance policies
In a bid to ensure total tax compliance in the country, the FIRS has disclosed plans to put new policies in place.
In a bid to ensure total tax compliance in the country, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has disclosed plans to put new policies in place. The disclosure was made by the FIRS Executive Chairman, Muhammad Nami during the KPMG Tax Breakfast Seminar.
According to KPMG Tax Consultant, Victor Adegite in a series of tweets, Nami said the FIRS plans to deploy more of its workforce to tax audit. Currently, only 16% of the FIRS headcount handle tax audits. It will be scaled up to 30% of the headcount.
Yesterday, we had our Tax Breakfast Seminar which focused on the budget and the Finance Act. In attendance was the Executive Chairman of the FIRS. I will share with you in few tweets some of the insights provided by the FIRS Chairman.
It's a thread !
— Victor Adegite (@VAdegite) February 15, 2020
At the seminar focused on the budget and the Finance Act, Nami spoke on different matters surrounding the new actions to be taken during the course of the year. Some of the actions include the Finance Act and the new tax rules it brings as well as the intended issuance of information circulars by the service.
“The Finance Act 2019, will take effect in the 2020 year of assessment i.e. the new tax rules will be applied to the 2019 financial statements for the calculation of Company Income Tax (CIT). For Value Added Tax (VAT), the commencement date is 1 February 2020 as earlier announced.
“The FIRS will issue Information Circulars to clarify grey areas as to the implementation of the Finance Act 2019. On the issue of the administrative structure of the FIRS, the FIRS Chairman confirmed that the Service now operates a decentralized structure with Tax Controllers having powers to deal with tax matters within their coverage area,” Adegite tweeted.
[READ MORE: FIRS boss, Nami discloses why FIRS failed to meet revenue target under Fowler)
Details: Nami also disclosed that the FIRS would be collaborating with tax authorities at the state level. In order to make sure that companies do not evade tax, there would also be an increase in the level of information shared among the tax authorities.
Some of the agencies to collaborate with include Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) among others. The FIRS boss also said there would be increased use of technology this year such as the use of the Integrated Tax Administration System (ITAS) for all tax filings.
Recall that Nairametrics reported the launch of a national intelligence gathering system by FIRS as well as a partnership with the ICPC.
Hospitality & Travel
US imposes $15,000 visa bond on 15 African countries, others
The US has issued a visa rule requiring tourist and business travelers in some countries to pay a bond of up to $15,000 in addition to the visa fees.
The outgoing administration of US President, Donald Trump, on Monday, November 23, 2020, issued a new temporary visa rule that requires tourist and business travelers from 15 African countries and others to pay a bond of up to $15,000 in addition to the visa fees, which ranges from $16 to $300, in order to visit the United States.
According to TheCable, the US State Department said the visa bond pilot programme, expected to take effect from December 24 and end on June 24, 2021, is targeted at countries whose citizens have higher rates of overstaying B-2 visas for tourists and B-1 visas for business travelers.
The Trump administration said the six-month pilot program aims to test the feasibility of collecting such bonds and will serve as a diplomatic deterrence to overstaying the visas. Hence, overstay places significant pressure on Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security.
The visa bond rule will permit U.S. consular officers to request tourist and business travelers from countries whose nationals had an overstay rate of 10% and above in 2019 to pay a refundable bond of $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000.
The countries whose tourist and business travelers fall into this category and subjected to the bond requirements are 24 countries, including 15 African countries. While these nations had higher rates of overstays, they sent relatively fewer travelers to the United States.
The countries include Afghanistan, Angola, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Burma, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa), Djibouti, Eritrea, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Laos, Liberia, Libya, Mauritania, Papua New Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen,
Nigerian travelers escaped paying the temporary visa rule, as their overall score was below the threshold of 10% and above overstaying rate.
Economy & Politics
Senate approves issuance of N148bn promissory notes to Bayelsa, 4 others
Promissory notes worth N148,141,969,161.24 has been approved by the Senate as refund to Bayelsa, Cross River, Ondo, Osun and Rivers States
Promissory notes worth N148.141billion have been approved by the Senate as a refund to Bayelsa, Cross River, Ondo, Osun, and Rivers States for projects executed on behalf of the Federal Government.
The approval which was given by the Senate at the plenary on Tuesday, 24th November 2020, came after the presentation of a report by the Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, led by Senator Ordia Clifford (PDP-Edo).
According to a news report by NAN, this is a go-ahead to the Federal Government, who had sought the approval of the Senate for issuance of promissory notes for a refund on federal projects executed by State governments.
The request was contained in a letter addressed to President of Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan by President Muhammadu Buhari, and read at plenary. The Senate referred the matter to the Committee on Local and Foreign Debts for further legislative input.
(READ MORE: FG inaugurates steering committee on Covid-19 economic recovery)
Senator Ordia Clifford, while presenting the report of the committee, said the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance; Federal Commissioners of Finance and Works in the five states, had briefed the committee on details of the projects.
He said the Committee was presented with documents relating to the approvals of the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing for the execution of the projects and certificates of completion, amongst other documents.
At the plenary today, Senator Ordia moved the motion that the Senate approves the Committee’s recommendations by approving the issuance of the promissory notes to the State governments.
According to him, the amount due to the five states is N148.14billion.
- Bayelsa was allotted N38.40billion
- Cross River was allotted N18.39billion
- Ondo was allotted N7.82billion
- Osun was allotted N4.57billion
- Rivers was allotted N78.95billion
What they are saying
The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, disclosed that records showed PDP states had the highest refund, he said: “If you look at the list of states, only two are APC states and they have the least in terms of refund, this is fantastic and a mark of leadership by the Federal Government. This shows tolerance and leadership by this administration.”
Business News
Interswitch Group becomes Finastra’s lead technology partner in Nigeria
nterswitch Group has unveiled a consolidated partnership with Finastra, one of the world’s most influential Fintechs.
In a bid to further develop its market and expand, Interswitch Group has unveiled a consolidated partnership with Finastra, one of the world’s most influential Fintechs.
This is according to a verified post by Interswitch Group on Linkedin, as seen by Nairametrics.
What this means
The strategic partnership enables Interswitch to become Finastra’s lead technology partner and will avail the latter the opportunity to bring the broadest set of financial software solutions to financial institutions in Nigeria and across Africa, in conjunction with Interswitch’s strong understanding of the local banking and payments landscape, as well as the ability to deploy solutions across these markets.
Some of Finastra’s financial software solutions that will be incorporated into Interswitch’s digital solution include: Fusion Kondor and Fusion Trade Innovation, which will consolidate Interswitch’s position as a hub for financial solutions, including treasury and trade solutions.
(READ MORE: 5 Nigerian startups selected to join 7 others at the Africa Tech Summit Connects (ATS))
What they are saying
Commenting on the partnership, the Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer of Interswitch, Mitchell Elegbe, was quoted by Tech economy saying: “Our partnership with Finastra is consistent with our strategic growth plan and we both share the vision of deepening access to financial services by providing world-class technology and innovative solutions.
“The partnership enables Finastra to seamlessly deploy its technology in this market. For Interswitch, we will be leveraging our proven success and expertise in delivering transaction banking solutions to support Finastra in localizing and implementing their technology in this region.’’
On the other hand, the Head of Partner Ecosystem MEA & CIS at Finastra, Hamid Nirouzad, said: “Interswitch has a proven track record of delivering solutions to commercial banks, as well as, a strong understanding of the local banking landscape across Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa.
“Finastra is committed to providing its solutions to financial institutions across the world, and partnerships such as this will result in successful projects, with rapid delivery at a reasonable cost.”
US imposes $15,000 visa bond on 15 African countries, others
FIRS rakes in N4.178 trillion revenue, achieves 98.6% of revenue target
Senate approves issuance of N148bn promissory notes to Bayelsa, 4 others
Interswitch Group becomes Finastra’s lead technology partner in Nigeria
Flour Mills’ GMD acquires shares worth ₦54.6 million
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