The tug of war between the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, and the Nigerian Postal Service, NIPOST, over who collects stamp duties is still raging.
On Tuesday, March 16, 2021, the FIRS, in a statement, insisted it “remains the only federal agency permitted by law to collect Stamp Duties on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria.”
It said: “The FIRS, therefore, urged taxpayers, tax practitioners and the general public to ignore this unfortunate attempt to cause confusion by twisting the Honourable Minister’s speech.”
Over the weekend, it was widely reported that NIPOST has taken over the administration of stamp duties in the Nigeria.
Reacting to this claim, the FIRS described the report fake news and an attempt to create confusion around the administration of stamp duties.
According to the FIRS: “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 tax agency said the Minister for Communications and Digital Economy Isa Pantami was “quoted out of context” in suggesting that NIPOST was now in charge of administering stamp duties in the country.
