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From Uche Usim, Abuja
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on Tuesday cut short the celebration of the Nigeria Postal Service (NIPOST), which hitherto jubilated that the Finance Act 2020 has stripped the former of stamp duty collection functions on behalf of the Federal Government.
The FIRS debunked the insinuations in a statement by its Director, Communications and Liaison, Abdullahi Ismaila Ahmad.
The statement noted that some newspapers and electronic/social media platforms misquoted a recent speech by the Minister for Communications and Digital Economy on the administration of stamp duties in the country.
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“For the avoidance of confusion arising from such publications, the FIRS hereby informs the general public, especially taxpayers, that the Minister was misquoted as saying that the administration of Stamp Duty was granted to NIPOST by the Finance Act 2020. The speech attributed to the Minister was definitely, and unfortunately, quoted out of context.
“For the record, the 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).
“The FIRS, therefore, urges taxpayers, tax practitioners and the general public to ignore this unfortunate attempt to cause confusion by twisting the Minister’s speech. The 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.
“The FIRS remains the only federal agency permitted by law to collect Stamp Duties on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria. Therefore, the FIRS urges all taxpayers to disregard the aforementioned fake news and continue to pay their Stamp Duties charges to the FIRS nationwide”, FIRS said in the statement.
