Business
NECA Petitions FIRS Chairman Over New Tax Policy
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has come under fire from the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) for implementing a new update to its TaxProMax platform, that the private sector group says places an undue administrative burden on businesses.
In a petition to the FIRS chairman, NECA’s director-general, Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, argued that the update has no legal foundation and contravenes the government’s Ease-of-Doing-Business policy.
Oyerinde also pointed to Sections 15(1) and 17 of the Value Added Tax (VAT) Act, which he says do not allow for the imposition of additional burdens on retailers and raw material purchasers.
NECA in the petition said: “We wish to refer to the recent update implemented by the FIRS on its TaxProMax platform and its impact on organized businesses. As you are well aware, organized businesses have been faced with multi-dimensional challenges in recent times and in our view, policies and programmes of Government or its agencies should ordinarily promote enterprise sustainability and competitiveness.
“However, the recent policy by the FIRS seems to negate Government Ease-of-Doing-Business efforts, places unnecessary administrative burden on businesses.
“The policy is tantamount to the FIRS abdicating its responsibility to collect VAT from suppliers and also lacks any legal foundation to impose additional burden on purchasers of raw materials and retailers in view of Section 15(1) and Section 17 of the VAT Act, among others.
“Though we note the FIRS efforts at creating awareness on the new policy through a Stakeholders’ engagement, we wish to state that the effort was vexatious and belated as the engagement should have preceded the implementation of the Policy.
“Furthermore, we view the belated enlightenment as an attempt to confer legality on an otherwise illegal issue.” it added.
The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) has projected that the country has the potential to achieve a 5.5% growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) if critical policy reforms are sustained.
This was disclosed on Thursday during the launch of the NESG’s 2025 Macroeconomic Outlook report.
Speaking at the event, the Chief Economist and Director of Research & Development at NESG, Dr. Olusegun Omisakin, highlighted the need for more efficient policy implementation to unlock Nigeria’s economic potential.
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“We believe at the optimal level, if we embark on more efficient policy reforms, the Nigerian economy has the potential, the GDP to end up at 5.5 per cent, and we believe that this is achievable,” Omisakin stated.
More to follow……….
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced the release of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange (FX) Code, a set of guidelines designed to promote ethical conduct among authorized dealers in the country’s FX market.
In a statement, the apex bank disclosed that the official launch of the Code would take place on Tuesday, January 28, 2025, at the CBN Head Office Auditorium in Abuja.
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“The Central Bank of Nigeria has approved the release of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange (FX) Code as a guideline to the banking industry to promote the ethical conduct of authorised dealers in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market,” the statement read.
The introduction of the FX Code is expected to enhance transparency, accountability, and professionalism within Nigeria’s foreign exchange ecosystem, aligning it with global best practices.
The event is anticipated to attract key stakeholders in the financial and banking sectors, as well as representatives from authorized FX-dealing institutions across the country.
The 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump attracted up 3 trillion dollars in investments into the country’s economy in his first full day at work.
This was gleaned from the verified handle of the POTUS on micro-blogging site, X, on Wednesday.
Biztellers reports that the POTUS is focused ensuring at least $1 trillion investment daily for the first seven days of his return to the White House, which would be driven by key clearly identified areas, including artificial intelligence.
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President Trump wrote, “In total, before the end of my first full business day in Washington and the White House, we’ve already secured nearly $3 trillion of new investments in the United States.
“And probably, that’s going to be six or seven by the end of the week.”
In a short video clip accompanying the statement, President Trump assured that the surge in investments would likely hit $7 trillion within his first seven days as the 47th POTUS.
He highlighted that artificial intelligence had proven to be an area lots of willing entrepreneurs had shown much appetite for.
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