THE Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on Wednesday mandated landlords and property agents to charge six percent Stamp Duty on all tenancy and lease agreements.
The agency issued the directive a statement on Wednesday by Director, Communications and Liaison Department Abdullahi Ahmad.
He said: “Property-related transactions like tenancy or lease agreement fall under the Ad Valorem category of the stamp duty which attracts six per cent duty payable in percentage of the total value or sum of the tenancy or lease,” Ahmad explained in the statement.
He stated that the burden of payment of the six per cent “lies on the beneficiary of the tenancy or lease agreement, whom the Stamp Duty Act identified as the tenant or renter.”
He added that “the responsibility of collection and remittance fall on the landlord or agent in charge of the property for lease or rent. The party making the payment shall have the obligation to account for the applicable stamp duties.”
Stamp Duties payment is enabled by the Stamp Duties Act (SDA) 1939, as amended by numerous Acts and various resolutions contained in the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria. The SDA also provides a list of documents in its schedule and the duty payable on each.
