The Senate has passed the Finance Bill 2021, which was transmitted to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari on December 7, 2021.
The bill was passed by the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly following the consideration of a report by the Senate Joint Committee on Finance; Customs, Excise, and Tariff; Trade and Investment.
A major clause of the Bill is the aspect authorizing the Federal Inland Revenues Service (FIRS) to assess non-resident firms like Twitter, Facebook , Google, and Netflix, among others.
These firms will be taxed on fair and reasonable turnover earned from digital services they provided to Nigerian customers.
The Finance Bill also tasks the FIRS to nominate those who will be in charge of collection and remittance of non-resident taxes.
In his presentation, Chairman of the Joint Committee, Senator Solomon Adeola, said the Bill seeks to support the implementation of the 2022 Federal Budget of Economic Growth and Sustainability by proposing key specific taxation, such as Customs Duties, fiscal charges, and other relevant laws.
“The Finance Act 2020 was predicated essentially on having no new taxes and no new incentives due to the COVID -19 impact on the economy, as such, it was structured across four broad thematic areas; Enacting counter-cyclical measures and crisis intervention initiatives; Tax, fiscal responsibility, and public procurement reforms; Reforming fiscal incentives policies for job creation; ensuring closer coordination of monetary, trade and fiscal policies and Enhancing tax administration,” Adeola said.
