Also, the Company, as part of its efforts at ensuring accident-free trucking disclosed that it has partnered with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to help in the recruitment, training, and monitoring of its drivers.

Speaking during the awareness campaign, the Dangote Cement, Ibese Pant Director, Mr. Azad Nawabuddin explained that beyond the reduction of road crashes, the company was targeting zero accidents, especially during festive periods when the roads are usually congested. 

Explaining the theme for the Campaign, “Use Road Like Person Wey Sabi“, the Dangote plant Director noted that the message of being considerate while using the road is directed at its truck drivers, the commercial motorcyclists, and drivers of light vehicles operating in and around the Plant, as well as other members of its communities.

He said, “I, therefore, enjoin all these actors on our roads who are well represented here today to learn and imbibe necessary tips to improve their use of the road in a professional manner and help cascade the safety messages to their colleagues hereafter.

“We, as Government, Corporate Organizations, Communities, and Individuals must all join hands and play our part in ensuring safety on our roads because safety is a collective responsibility.

“Earlier today, we had taken the road safety campaign to our neighbouring communities via roadshows coordinated by FRSC and our employee Volunteers in recognition of the communities as our key stakeholders and partners.

“I am glad that the messages were well received, and it is our hope this will drive some attitudinal change in the way we use the road.”

In the same vein, the assistant director of transport in charge of safety and operation in Dangote Cement, Sanusi Iskilu revealed that the company is fixing board cameras on its trucks so as to help in achieving the zero-accident target.

Iskilu explained that Dangote cement also employed the service of external stakeholders who give feedback on the performances of its drivers, noting 

“We have a lot of initiatives that we have taken on board. In the recent year, you will discover that our accidents have reduced drastically, and we have improved.

“Strategically, we have been able to fix onboard cameras on some of our trucks, so, we are able to see drivers in transit in their cabin and they are cautioned as well. 

We have external stakeholders that give feedback of our drivers’ performance in transit for us to immediately act and ensure that they are monitored, and they are strictly brought under control.”

He added that the awareness campaign started with a reduction in road crashes and has now “moved from our campaign of no harm to people to no accident at all. So, if there is no accident, we can’t hurt anybody let alone killing and we want to consider everybody on the road. And this has even given us credibility from the public apart from the regulatory agencies.“

While giving his lecture, FRSC Commander, Caleb Yerima maintained that every road users need to adhere strictly to the rules and regulations guiding it while commending Dangote cement for embarking on the awareness campaign and the training of its truck drivers so as to help in reducing accidents on Nigeria road.

He said, “Dangote has been doing that; that is why they engage their staff in different training to enhance their performance. For spending billions of naira to purchase vehicles, it means that it also needs training them to preserve the vehicles. We cannot just hand over investments to someone that don’t know how to use it. And that is why training and retraining are very important.”

The highlight of the Dangote Plant Road Safety Awareness Campaign program was the presentation of hundreds of C-Caution, 500 reflective jackets, and 100 motorcyclist helmets to the participants at the event.

The post Dangote Cement, FRSC Partner For Accident-free Road Transportation appeared first on Business News in Nigeria.

The OECD G20 Inclusive Framework two-pillar solution proposes a framework of rules aimed at tackling base erosion and profit shifting and providing for the taxation of Multinational Enterprises (MNEs). Four member countries of the Inclusive Framework (Nigeria inclusive), out of 140, have not agreed to the Two-Pillar solution.

Nigeria’s reasons for not agreeing to the Two-Pillar solution was explained in a webinar session hosted by the FIRS last week.

The Executive Chairman of the FIRS, represented by the Group Lead, Executive Chairman’s Group, Mr M. L. Abubakar, noted that taxation of the digital economy has become a topical issue that many economies and developmental blocs are working to solve, including the OECD and the United Nations Tax Committee who have commissioned projects to produce a common front for countries to adopt.

“Nigeria has been involved in various work-streams under the OECD project and had articulated its position on the technical work towards the goal of producing a common front for countries. However, our concerns on potential negative revenue returns that the rule designs would have for developing countries were unaddressed, Nigeria abstained from committing to the rules at this time.” He stated.

He explained that the webinar was therefore to educate the general public on the modalities and impact of the statement released by the OECD Inclusive Framework on the 8th of October 2021 and to provide a broad picture on why Nigeria abstained from signing.

The webinar which was a special edition of the FIRS Taxpayer Engagement Series was hosted by Mr. Olufemi Olarinde, Technical Assistant (Tax Policy) to the Executive Chairman FIRS, while technical papers where delivered by Mr. Mathew Gbonjubola, Mr. Temitayo Orebajo, Mr. Kehinde Kajesomo, Mr, Emmanuel Eze and Ms. Aisha Isa, all staff of the FIRS.

Explaining in details, Mr. Mathew Gbonjubola, the Group Lead Special Tax Operations Group, and Nigeria’s representative at the OECD Inclusive Framework highlighted that despite the expected outcome that both Pillars will increase Global Corporate Income Tax by as much as $150 Billion per annum, with attendant favourable environment for investment and economic growth, there were serious concerns that the pillars did not address negative revenue outcome for Nigeria and other developing countries.

“The general issues that developing countries have with the outcome that was published in October 8th is the high cost of implementation. And that speaks to the complexities of the proposal in the inclusive framework statement. In every complex situation or rule, implementation and compliance will always be difficult. When implementation or compliance is difficult, there would be high cost of implementation.

“Another issue was that the economic impact assessment that was carried out on Pillar 1 and 2 were founded on an unreliable premise. The country-specific impact assessment that was done was top-down. Somebody just looked at the GDP of Nigeria, and says Nigeria’s GDP is this much and then they should be able to buy this number of shoes and things like that. And you and I know, in that kind of postulation, the margin of error is usually very wide. That exactly was what happened with this. Particularly for Nigeria, when we ran the numbers it was way off the figures that the OECD gave us.

“And the final issue most developing countries had was that the developed world, within the inclusive framework, was very indifferent to the concerns expressed by most developing countries. This you can see from the outcome, with respect to the complexity, issues of high cost of implementation and on the issue of revenue accruable to developing countries. When you look at the bulk of the money that would accrue from the project, if any, 70% – 80% will go to the developed countries. Almost nothing comes to the developing countries.” He explained.

On the specific concerns raised by Nigeria, Mr. Gbonjubola, who led Nigeria’s team on the Inclusive Framework negotiations, explained that while the whole project started out to find solutions to the challenges of a digitalised economy the outcome was completely different.

He went further to note that the statement by the OECD Inclusive Framework required all parties to remove all Digital Service Taxes and other relevant similar measures with respect to companies taxation and to commit not to introduce such measures in the future.

“The statement required the withdrawal of unilateral measures by countries. Which Nigeria does not have a problem with (Nigeria does not have any unilateral measure targeted at digital services companies). However, the paper that was released on unilateral measures was so expansive in its definition that we are concerned that the taxing rights that Nigeria has always enjoyed may be withdrawn.”

He further explained that Nigeria is unable to implement the mandatory binding resolution on arbitration because of constitutional limitations as to tax dispute resolution.

He also stated that for Nigeria, “Pillar 2 is not a deal breaker because Nigeria could work with Pillar 2. “We have a few issues with Pillar 2 but we could live with them but because Pillar 1 and 2 are a single package, since we are rejecting Pillar 1, we can’t take on Pillar 2”.

“Under the inclusive framework rule you either accept both Pillars or you reject both Pillars. You cannot pick one to the exclusion of the other. And since Nigeria is not able to join one of the pillars, it means we are out of both Pillars.”

Mr. Gbonjubola also stated that Nigeria does not see any additional revenue coming to by way of Pillar 2, though he added that it could act as a behaviour modifier for policy makers to take another look at the various tax incentives and tax waivers we have in our tax laws and begin to restructure them in other to ensure that we are not deliberately throwing away revenue.

“Nigeria could not sign up to the statement of the inclusive framework because it did not address the concerns that we had expressed as a country and it also did not take cognisance of issues around developing countries, which will make those outcomes not to provide additional revenue, and if any, very little, and at very significant cost.”

He further stated that Nigeria, which had participated in all the meetings of the working groups would continue to participate in the design of all technical notes and model rules, and would agree to the Pillars if its expressed concerns are addressed.

“And finally, just like the Honourable Minister of Finance said a couple of months ago, Nigeria would continue to participate in the inclusive framework activities particularly the design of all the technical notes and the model rules, and then, if and only if, the concerns we have expressed are addressed, then Nigeria still has the chance to join up and to sign up. But if not, we will leave that to our policy makers to decide going forward”

The Webinar had in attendance Prof. Abiola Sani, a professor of Commercial Law in Nigeria as well as other eminent tax practitioners and representatives of government and private institutions. The representatives of the Kenya and Zambia revenue authorities were also in attendance.

The post Why Nigeria Did Not Sign The OECD Minimum Corporate Tax Agreement -FIRS appeared first on Business News in Nigeria.

Recall that some months ago, the Debt Management Office (DMO) released the country’s debt report.

In the report as reported on Unmask NG,  Nigeria’s total debt stock, which comprises foreign and local arrears, as at June 2020 stood at N31.01 trillion, which represents 8.31% increase when compared to her N28.63 trillion debt profile as at March 2020 (three months prior).

Out of the N31.01 trillion debt profile, external debt stood at N11.36 trillion, representing 36.65% of the total debt stock. On the other hand, domestic debt at N19.65 trillion, representing 63.35% of the total debt.

The DMO report also disclosed that N1.21 trillion was spent to service the loans during the period under review. While domestic debt servicing gulped N921.9 billion, the government spent N288.6 billion to service its foreign debts.

Raising alarm on the debt crisis, the Executive Chairman of FIRS, Muhammadu Nami analyzed how Nigeria’s impending recession will affect the country’s revenue.

“Oil prices have plummeted (from $97.98 in 2012 to below $50 in 2020. Collection has indeed gone up, but Nigeria’s VAT gap remained at a pitiable 70 percent, compared with South Africa at 12 percent, Morocco at 28 percent, and Zimbabwe at 38 percent.

“If the country’s revenue doesn’t improve, Nigeria will struggle to service its debt, and it will lead to debt crisis. The debt crisis will worsen insecurity and result in political unrest in the country.

 “A Debt Management Office (DMO) report indicates that about N1.21 trillion was used to service debt from January to June 2020. Over N3 trillion is proposed for debt servicing in 2021. The report further projects that Nigeria’s debt stock will grow significantly by end of 2020. God forbid that Nigeria should default in debt repayment obligations.

“Nigeria’s debt to revenue ratio is worsening it is estimated at 538 percent at the end of the fourth quarter, that is 190 percent increase from 2019 figure (348 percent),” his analysis pointed out.

What this means

In spite of concerns from economic experts, industry players, stakeholders, and international bodies, President Muhammadu Buhari-led government has channeled its focus on borrowings and adding to Nigeria’s alarming debt stock.

It is however apparent that loans seem to be the only way the incumbent administration can secure funds to keep the economy running.

But the reality is, should the government continue on this trend, the increasing debt would not stop to disrupt large investments on infrastructures, which are meant to stimulate productivity and improve the standard of living of the people.

The post FIRS Warns Buhari Against Plunging Nigeria Into Debt Crisis appeared first on Business News in Nigeria.

The government-owned and operated corporation, responsible for providing postal services in Nigeria, had provoked anger, after disclosing that it has increased fees for courier services companies in the country.

Below is a breakdown of the increased fees:

For companies that offer international courier services, they were expected to pay N20 million for a new license and N8 million for renewal of services annually.

While logistics firms that are operating at the national level were to pay N10 million for license and N4 million yearly, companies operating within regions were expected to pay N5 million for license and N2 million annually.

More so, companies operating within states were to procure their licenses for N2 million while renewal costs N800,000. Companies within the Municipal area are expected to pay N1 million for license and N400,000 annually.

Although, the hike in licensing fees for courier services operators has been suspended; this development has triggered protest and wild reactions from SME operators and other concerned members of the public. It is however in this light that Unmask NG presents three government policies from President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration that didn’t sit well with Nigerians.

POS stamp duty:

Recall that in May 2020, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the agency responsible for assessing, collecting and accounting for tax and other revenues accruing to the Federal Government, in a circular, noted that Nigerians would henceforth be paying stamp duties on all forms of electronic notifications acknowledging receipts of funds. This includes SMS and messages on any electronic platform such as -emails and Whatsapp messages.

As seen in the circular, the stamp duties will be paid on POS receipts, fiscalised device receipts, and Automated Teller Machine (ATM) print-outs.

The revenue generating agency, in the circular, specifically stated that all receipts -be it printed or electronically generated, or any form of electronic acknowledgement of money transactions, would attract a stamp duty of N50.

5% VAT charge on online purchases:

As of August 2019, the FIRS directed banks to charge customers 5% Value Added Tax(VAT) for their online purchases when using their bank cards.

It is an open secrete that online purchases are increasingly gaining relevance among Nigerians.

With e-commerce platforms like –Buffbuy, Jumia and Konga, are leading the pack, Nigerians now throng on online purchases for their wants and needs. Payments for such purchases are often made using bank debit and credit cards, and according to Tunde Fowler, the former FIRS boss, would attract the 5% tax.

VAT Act:

Last year, the Nigerian Senate passed a finance bill that sought to amend seven Acts of the National Assembly, relating to taxes payable in the country.

Specifically, the bill sought to hike the VAT from 5% to 7.5%.

What you should know:

Recently, there has been some newly-introduced taxes and review of the fees of existing ones. This, Unkas NG understands, were because the incumbent government cannot sustain the country’s economy through crude oil alone.

And as a result, the Buhari government has been aggressively pushing for more revenue sources, at the detriment of SMEs.

The post NIPOST: 3 Other Policies That Triggered the Fury of SME Operators appeared first on Business News in Nigeria.

According to a circular by the tax-collecting agency, the stamp duty will be charged from Nigerians through banks anytime there’s a notification of transaction regardless of the electronic medium.

While the stamp duty will be deducted for transactions of N10,000 and above, FIRS disclosed that the stamp duty will affect individual-to-individual, corporate-to-corporate transactions, as well as transactions between corporate and individual(s).

‘All electronic media included’

In the circular seen by Unmask NG, the FIRS disclosed that the N50 stamp duty will be deducted once a transaction occurs on SMS and messages on any electronic platform such as emails and Whatsapp messages, POS receipts, and ATM print-outs.

The circular signed by Muhammad Nami, FIRS’ boss, read; “Any electronic receipt for, or electronic transfer of, money deposited with any bank or with any banker in any type of account of an amount from N10,000 upwards shall attract a singular or one-off duty of the sum of N50.

“Stamp duty upon receipt (written, printed, or in electronic form) for transactions between corporate bodies or between a corporate body and an individual, group or body of individuals, which amounts to N10,000 and above, shall be denoted by payment of N50 per receipt to the service.”

Services the N50 stamp duty will be charged for

Not every electronic transaction the FIRS will charge for on receipt. As stated in the circular, the tax-collecting agency made known that it will charge on fixed duty instruments — This includes Power of Attorney, Certificate of Attorney, Proxy forms, Appointment of receivers, Memorandum of Understanding, Joint Venture Agreements, Guarantors form, Ordinary agreements, and Receipts.

Other services to be charged for are Ad-valorem instruments such as -Tenancy or lease agreements, legal mortgage or debentures, Sales agreements, and Deed of assignments.

Please note that the charge will not be applied if there’s no form of electronic acknowledgment of the transaction.

The post N50 Stamp Duty: These Are Services FIRS Will Be Charging For appeared first on Business News in Nigeria.