Customs insists on payment of statutory duties by MDAs

08 Aug Customs insists on payment of statutory duties by MDAs

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) yesterday lamented the refusal of some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to pay the statutory duties on imported goods, insisting that only the items imported by President Buhari are exempted from import duties and taxes.

In a statement issued by the Deputy National Public Relations Officer of the NCS, Timi Bomodi, the agency warned the MDAs to adhere strictly to guidelines on importation of vehicles and other equipment by paying all outstanding duties and levies over imported items or be liable as fraudulent importers.

It said MDAs were expected to pay duties on vehicles or other items, except where waivers and concessions were sought and granted.

“We wish to reiterate that by law, only items imported by the President, Commander in Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, are exempted from the payment of duties or taxes”, the statement said.

According to the statement, “the attention of the Nigeria Customs Service has been drawn to a trend in the activities of certain Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, with regards to their import of vehicles and other equipment.

“The NCS wishes to state that except where waivers or concessions were sought and granted, all outstanding duties and taxes relating to such imports are expected to be paid in full.

“This applies even in situations where these imports were executed by agents or proxies on their behalf.

“The NCS is, therefore, by this notice sensitising MDAs and advising them on the need to adhere strictly with import guidelines in this regard”, he said.

Bomodi further explained that contractors, who import and supply such equipment or vehicles without payment of duties, would be considered liable as fraudulent importers.

“We urge them to avail themselves of our trade facilitation tools available on and offline. This is necessary to avoid embarrassments in the future”, he added.

The service announced a revenue of N1.5trillion for its 2020 operation an improvement over N1. 341 trillion generated in 2019.

The federal government levies customs duties on most imports, but these duties were substantially reduced in 1986 and 1995.

The import duty varies from five per cent to 60 per cent, averaging 12 per cent. All imports are also subject to a seven per cent port surcharge and a five per cent value-added tax (VAT).

In several developing countries, the inability of the customs administration to properly implement duty relief systems for their export industry has increased production costs, thus reducing their manufacturers’ competitiveness in export markets, and has hurt the ability of these countries to attract investors.