The Federal Inland Revenue Service has advised the general public, especially tax payers, to ignore the false information being bandied in the media that the task of collecting stamp duties has been ceded to the Nigerian Postal Service by the Finance Act 2020.
The FIRS stressed that such information was a misrepresentation of what the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, said in a recent speech.
“The speech attributed to the Honourable Minister was definitely, and unfortunately, quoted out-of-context,” it said in a statement by Abdullahi Ismaila Ahmad, the Director, Communications and Liaison of the Service.
“For the avoidance of confusion arising from such publications, the FIRS hereby informs the general public, especially taxpayers, that the Honourable Minister was misquoted as saying that the administration of Stamp Duty was granted to NIPOST by the Finance Act 2020.
“For the record, the Honourable Minister merely stated that NIPOST would henceforth produce the ADHESIVE STAMPS required by FIRS to denote Stamp Duties. This position is in line with Section 2 of the Stamp Duties Act (as amended by Section 46 of the Finance Act 2020).”
It, therefore, urged taxpayers, tax practitioners and the general public to ignore what it termed as an unfortunate attempt to cause confusion by twisting the Minister’s speech.
It emphasised that the FIRS remains the only federal agency permitted by law to collect Stamp Duties on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“The Honourable Minister for Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, is a patriot with unarguable passion for the rule of law and stability of the country,” it said, adding: “Therefore, the FIRS urges all taxpayers to disregard the aforementioned fake news and continue to pay their Stamp Duties charges to the FIRS nationwide.”