The Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has commended the European Union (EU) for the remittance of Pay-As-You-Earn PAYE of its local staff since 2012.
Okonjo-Iweala made the commendation in Abuja today at a one-day sensitization workshop for Local Staff of Embassies on PAYE, Withholding Tax (WHT), Value Added Tax (VAT) on Contracts, and Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN).
The workshop is to facilitate partnership and collaboration between FIRS and Foreign Missions, International Organisations to deduct and remit their local staff, Pay-As-You-Earn to relevant tax authorities.
Diplomats and Ambassadors are exempted from payment of taxes by Article 23 of the Vienna Convention though such exemption does not cover their local staff, local contractors and vendors.
Represented by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mr. Kefas Danladi, said the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS)’ efforts to grow the nation’s revenue base remain a step in the right direction, most especially, in the face of the dwindling oil income.
The minister said ``Everybody wants development, but nobody wants to pay tax that fuels development. The importance of taxation cannot be over emphasised, especially in the wake of dwindling income from oil revenue.
``Any efforts by the FIRS to grow the revenue base of the country are welcome and everybody must contribute his or her share, especially, when somebody is earning taxable income.
``You cannot escape tax and claim to be a responsible citizen of that country. Once you pay tax, you can now have the benefits that come with payment of taxes. Tax payment is the backbone of any country’’.
Okonjo-Iweala urged the Service to ensure administrative mechanisms for easy access to TIN that would in turn fast-track clearance of goods at the nation’s sea-ports as well as issuance of Tax Clearance Certificates (TCC) to deserving taxpayers.
She equally urged FIRS to consider birth certificate and registration for taxation purposes as obtained in South Africa and Namibia, where tax registration and TCC are being linked to birth certificate.
Earlier, the Acting Executive Chairman of FIRS, Alhaji Kabir Mashi, said that the workshop was organized to ensure appropriate understanding of the provisions of the Personal Income Tax (PIT) Act as amended.
He said that such understanding was primarily in the areas of computations, deductions and remittances of PIT through the Pay-As-You-Earn Scheme as well as how embassy and diplomatic mission staff could obtain VAT refunds and their roles in Withholding Tax deduction and remittances.
``Another area of focus is the TIN registration. FIRS and the Joint Tax Board (JTB) have been going about this project for some years now. Our intention is to have eligible taxpayer, be it corporate or individual in our database.
``The TIN project has enjoyed a huge patronage by the Financial Institutions in the country, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).
``We are pursuing the `No TIN No Business’ agenda and we hope you will cooperate with us in this direction,’’ he said.
The workshop facilitated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was organized by the FIRS in conjunction with the JTB to seek the collaboration of embassies and diplomatic missions on remittances of PIT through the Pay-As-You-Earn Scheme as well as how embassy and diplomatic mission staff could obtain VAT refunds and their roles in Withholding Tax deduction and remittances.
There were four presentation: Withholding Tax in Nigeria:
The Imperatives of Partnership in Implementation, by Matthew Gbonjubola, TIN Administration in Nigeria by Oduba Oduba, The Role of Foreign Embassies in Nigeria in the Administration of PITA by Fatai Abbas and the Role of Diplomatic Missions and International Organisations/Agencies in the Administration of VAT in Nigeria by Qeensley S Seghosime.
Signed
EMMANUEL OBETA
Director, Communications & Liaison Department
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