It was gathered that the drive, which was in line with the
provisions of Section 85 of the Personal Income Tax Act (PITA), 2011 (as
amended) and Section 31(5) of the FCT-IRS Act, 2015, had already taken effect
in the Federal Capital Territory and other parts of the country.
To this effect, some banks had already conveyed the
development to their customers through text messages seen by THISDAY.
According to a publication by the FCT- Inland Revenue
Service which was seen by THISDAY, the regulation covers applications for
government loans, registration of motor vehicles, applications for foreign
exchange or exchange control permission, certificate of occupancy, award of
contracts by the government, and its agencies, and registered companies.
Other transactions subject to proof of TCC include approval
of building plans, trade licence, transfer of real property, agent license,
pools or gaming license, registration as a contractor, application for
distributorship, confirmation of appointment by the government as chairman or
member of a public board, institution, commission, company or to any other
similar position made by the government.
Other affected transactions are stamping of guarantor’s form
for a Nigerian passport, application for registration of a limited liability
company or of a business name, allocation of market stalls, appointment or
election into public office, application for change of ownership of a vehicle
by the vendor, plot of land, FCTA loan and any other as may be determined from
time to time.
Under the new directive, MDAs, banks, and corporate bodies
must ensure all presented TCC go through a rigorous verification process by the
issuing tax authority to ascertain their authenticity.
According to the FCT tax authority, the development was borne
out of the need for the service to ensure that all residents of the FCT fulfill
their tax obligations as demanded by law.
The FCT-IRS, further stated that in fulfilment of its
mandate to improve revenue generation and ensure compliance, it would carry out
a routine monitoring and enforcement exercise monthly, quarterly, or annually,
adding that strict sanctions would be meted out to defaulting bodies as
stipulated by law.
In the same vein, it stated that filing annual returns is
mandatory for all residents of FCT as it is a pre-condition for the issuance of
TCC.
“Thus, the monitoring exercise will encompass the compliance
rate as regards the prompt filing of annual returns as well as the demand for
Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC) as a requirement for the transactions listed
above,” it noted.
However, in an update on FX requests and transactions, one
of the commercial banks in a text message seen by THISDAY intimated customers
that, “In line with the provision of the Personal Income Tax Act (PITA), all
banks are now required to sight customers’ Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC)
before foreign exchange transactions can be fulfilled.
“Consequently, all FX and Form A requests will now require a copy of the applicants’ TCC before the request can be completed. This includes PTA/BTA, international school fees, medicals, personal home remittances, and upkeep.”
James Emejo in Abuja
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