The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on Tuesday said, it’s in charge of Stamp Duties Collection, contrary to reports attributed to the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy,Isa Ali Pantami, that FIRS was no longer in charge.
In a statement by the Director of Communications and Liaison of FIRS, Abdullahi Ismaila Ahmad on Tuesday which was made available to CAPITAL POST in Abuja, he urged the public to disregard the report, noting that the Minister was misquoted.
The attention of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has been drawn to false publications in some newspapers and electronic/social media platforms misquoting a recent speech by the Honourable Minister for Communications and Digital Economy on the administration of Stamp Duties in the country.
“For the avoidance of confusion arising from such publications, the FIRS hereby informs the general public, especially taxpayers, that the Honourable 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 Honourable Minister was definitely, and unfortunately, quoted out-of-context.
“For the record, the Honourable 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 Honourable Minister’s speech.
“The Honourable 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.
Thank you for paying your tax.
