Finance Bill 2020: Stakeholders Engagement Begins

The Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning has released the draft version of the 2020 Finance Bill (the Bill) to the public for consultation. This affirms the Federal Government of Nigeria’s commitment to enact Finance Acts annually, alongside the passage of the budget into law (i.e. enactment of Appropriation Act). It also aligns with global best practice, especially as tax is a significant contributor to the Government’s revenue.

The 2020 Bill is set to amend the provisions of the Capital Gains Tax Act, Companies Income Tax Act (CITA), Industrial Development (Income Tax Relief) Act (IIDITRA), Personal Income Tax Act (PITA), Tertiary Education Trust Fund Act, Customs & Excise Tariff (Consolidation) Act, Value Added Tax Act (VATA), Federal Inland Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, the Fiscal Responsibility Act and the Public Procurement Act.

Some of the major/key amendments are as follows:

S/N	Thematic Area	Key Focus	Description
1	Capital Gains Tax	Compensation for loss of office	Capital gain tax on compensation for loss of office would be limited to an amount in excess of the NGN10 million threshold.
2	Companies Income Tax	Agricultural production	“Agricultural trade or business” has been renamed as ‘Primary Agricultural Production’. The new definition clearly excludes processing and manufacturing of all forms of agricultural products.
		Incidental income for international shipping/air transport companies	The specialized approach of calculating income tax for international shipping/air transport companies, under Section 14 of CITA, would apply to shipping/transport/freight income. Non-freight income, leasing, containers and other incidental income will be taxed under Section 9 of CITA, as non-specialized.
		COVID-19 incentives (minimum tax and deductibility of donations)	Minimum tax rate reduced to 0.25% of gross turnover less franked investment income. This reduction, which is a COVID-19 incentive, applies to tax returns filed in respect of financial years ending between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2021. Tax deductibility of COVID-19 crisis intervention fund donations, as well as providing the framework for the deductibility of such donations in the future. Deductibility is restricted to 25% of assessable profit, and any unrelieved balance may be carried forward for up to a maximum of two years.
		Gas utilisation	Companies that claim the gas utilisation incentive under CITA would not be entitled to similar incentives under the Petroleum Profits Tax Act or IDITRA.
		Non-resident companies filing	Clarification of the components of the income tax returns of non-resident companies. The key component is an audited financial statement for Nigerian operations. This requirement does not apply to non-resident companies whose tax exposure in Nigeria is limited to withholding tax.
		Notice of assessment	Services of notice of assessment can be done electronically or by courier.
		Software	​​Qualifying expenditure has been redefined to include capital expenditure incurred on the development and acquisition of software.
3	Pioneer Status Incentive	Primary agricultural production	Introducing “primary agricultural (i.e. crop, livestock, forestry and fisheries) production” as a pioneer industry. Companies involved in these activities are eligible to apply for pioneer status incentive.
4	Personal Income Tax	Significant Economic Presence	Introduction of Significant Economic Presence rules to the taxation of certain categories of non-resident individuals, executors or trustees. The Minister of Finance will issue rules to define SEP from a PITA perspective
		Commencement and cessation rules	Revised commencement and cessation tax rules to prevent double tax. This is to align with the prior amendment to CITA in this regard. Tax will be applied on the basis of the individual’s accounting year.
		​​ Gross income definition	Introduction of a definition for gross income, which is the basis for calculating consolidated relief allowance. It is defined to mean income from all sources, excluding non-taxable income, tax-exempt income, income on which no further tax is payable, allowable business expenses and capital allowances.
5	Tertiary Education Tax	Exemption for small companies	Small companies are exempt from paying tertiary education tax
6	Customs and Excise	Non-applicability excise duty exemption	The exemption from excise duties on imported goods and goods manufactured locally would no longer apply
		Services are now subject to excise duties	​ Services are now subject to excise duties based on the applicable rates in the Fifth schedule
7	Value Added Tax	Time of supply of goods or services	Time of supply of goods or service is the later of; date of supply or date of invoice. More specific rules to clarify how to determine the date of supply introduced in the Bill
		The 7.5% increase in VAT commenced 1 February 2020	​The Bill clarifies that the commencement date of the 7.5% increase in VAT as 1 February 2020
8	Tax administration	Administration of tax laws	The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) is empowered to use technology to collect taxpayer information and ensure the confidentiality of information collected FIRS is empowered to conduct hearings virtually.
9	Unclaimed dividend	Establishment of a Trust Fund	Creation of an unclaimed dividends trust fund for public companies on any Stock Exchange in Nigeria. The aforementioned trust fund will warehouse all dividends that have not been claimed for at least three years from the date of declaration of the dividend.  Where the dividends remains unclaimed for a period of twelve years after transfer to the trust fund, it will be transferred to the Federation Account as Federation Revenue.

The draft Bill is still being discussed and stakeholders’ engagement ongoing. Therefore, some of the proposed changes may eventually not be passed into law, while new changes may be added. We will continue to monitor the development and provide updates in this regard.

Tags: Finance Bill 2021

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