FIRS gives taxpayers with outstanding foreign currency tax liabilities a 30-day concession

09 Mar FIRS gives taxpayers with outstanding foreign currency tax liabilities a 30-day concession

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has given taxpayers with outstanding foreign currency tax liabilities a one-month window to remit all taxes accrued by their transactions to settle them by 31st March.

In a statement, yesterday, the Special Assistant to the Executive Chairman of FIRS, Muhammad Nami, explained that the window covers liabilities that have falling due for payment on or before 31st December, 2021 and for all taxes except the Petroleum Profit Tax.

“In view of the number of requests, enquiries and the challenges encountered by the taxpaying public in sourcing for foreign currencies to offset outstanding tax liabilities, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (“the Service”) wishes to inform our esteemed taxpayers that a one-month window has now been opened for this category of taxpayers to settle their foreign currency tax liabilities in Naira with effect from the 1st of March, 2022 to 31st of March, 2022.”

Nami said the concession was a one-off window as the law has stated that the currency a taxpayer transacts in is the currency with which the tax is to be paid.

“The extant provision is that the currency of the transaction should be the currency with which the tax is paid. However, this is a one-off window/concession, and the service would no longer entertain any such request from the taxpaying public.”

He further stated 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.”