FIRS offers concession to taxpayers with foreign currency tax liabilities

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has granted taxpayers with outstanding foreign currency tax liabilities a one-month window to settle their indebtedness in Naira.

The Executive Chairman, Mr. Muhammad Nami said the incentive regime, which takes effect from March 1 to 31, 2022, covers all such liabilities which are due for payment on or before December 31 2021, and for all taxes except the Petroleum Profit Tax.

The move followed requests and submissions by taxpayers on the challenges they have encountered in sourcing for foreign currencies to offset their outstanding tax liabilities.

However, Nami, in a public notice, explained that the concession was a one-off opportunity as the law has stipulated that the currency a taxpayer transacts in is the currency with which the tax is to be paid.

The notice further clarified that “The applicable rate shall be the Investors and Exporters (I&E) Foreign Exchange Rate of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) prevailing on the date of the transaction and or when the tax obligation falls due. This concession is available to all taxpayers, covers all tax types, and all foreign currency tax liabilities falling due on or before 31st December 2021, except for companies in the Upstream (Oil & Gas) Sector, and the Petroleum Profits Tax,” the FIRS boss added.

A statement by the Special Assistant to the Executive Chairman, FIRS, Johannes Oluwatobi Wojuola, further pointed out that in order to benefit from the concession, taxpayers within the stipulated category are expected to make all payments before March 31.

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