Connect with us

Business

Licensed Customs Agents Seek Clarification on Commencement Date of Zero Duty

We noticed a serious conflict between the date of the implementation of the Presidential Order, and the Ministers of Finance’s Circular

Published

on

3 Views

Wale Edun, Minister of Finance

The National Council of Managing Directors Of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA) says that the Presidential Order on  Inflation Reduction and Price Stability conflicts with the Minister of Finance Circular on zero duty rate on basic food items.

” We request that the conflict of Presidential Order on Inflation Reduction and Price stability (Fiscal policy measures, etc) Order 1st May 2024 and the Minister of Finance  Circular F17417/VI/T/6 of 8th August that was backdated to 15th of July, should be clarified,” said Lucky Eyis Amiwero, National President of NCMDLCA.

NCMDLCA in a letter to President Bola Tinubu,  dated September 4,  said: ” We hereby bring to the attention of the Federal Government of the two circulating instruments of the Federal Government with conflicting date of implementation and description of Fiscal Policy content.

We noticed a serious conflict between the date of the implementation of the Presidential Order, and the Ministers of Finance’s Circular, while the Presidential Order gave the date of commencement as 1st of May 2024,  the Minister of Finance’s Letter was backdated to 15th July 2024 as the Commencement date, while the Finance  Circular was dated 8th of August which was received by the Nigeria Customs Service on the 13th  August and  issued to the Trading public on 14th August by service

The area of concern to  the Trading public is whether the  Minister of Finance drew its strength from  the Presidential Order,  approved by the President that is, the Inflation Reduction and Price Stability (Fiscal policy measure, etc) order, 2024, which is supposed to commence on the 1st  May 2024, or the President issued a fresh order and suspend the Order that has been signed because nothing is said on the Presidential Order that has been in circulation before the Minister’s Circular and Customs implementing circular

Furthermore, the date of the Minister’s Circular was backdated by almost one(1) month, which is not in line with the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) Nigeria being a contracting party to the Agreement, which states, in Article 2:  opportunities and appropriate time period shall be provided to traders and other interested parties on new or amendment laws and regulations of general application.

Related to the movement, release, and clearance of goods, including goods in transit, are published or Information on then, giving enough time to be made otherwise publicly available, as early as possible before they entered into force, to enable traders and other interested parties to become acquainted with them.

Amiwero said that the clarification is very important to eliminate the use of dollarizing the domestic market and to stabilize it for consistent, predictable, and transparent transactions.▪︎

Business

MTN , Airtel , Glo Begin USSD Direct Charges from Today

The new billing model would allow mobile network operators to charge customers directly for USSD sessions, with charges deducted from airtime balance at N6.98 per 120 seconds.

Published

on

By

32 Views

Telecom subscribers in Nigeria will now be charged directly by their mobile network operators for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) services, starting Wednesday, June 18, 2025.

This was disclosed by Mr Gbenga Adebayo, the Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), and the Publicity Secretary, Mr Damian Udeh.

Adebayo said that the change is in line with the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) determination of USSD pricing and services, developed in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other stakeholders.

” The new billing model would allow mobile network operators to charge customers directly for USSD sessions, with charges deducted from airtime balance at N6.98 per 120 seconds,” he said.

Continue Reading

Business

CAC unveils new service fees starting August 1

For companies, notable revisions showed that the voluntary striking-off fee has been raised from N25,000 (for small companies) to N50,000, and N100,000 for public entities.

Published

on

By

52 Views

The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAc) on Tuesday, announces an increments for its service fees review certain service fees effective the 1st day of August 2025.

In a statement , the Commission said that the new fees are a reflection of the current economic conditions and rising operational expenses.

The CAC added that the new development is expected to have implications for business owners, legal practitioners, compliance officers, and stakeholders engaging with the corporate registry for post-incorporation filings and regulatory services..

Said CAC: ” the reviewed fee structure affects services offered to companies, limited partnerships, business names, and incorporated trustees.

For companies, notable revisions showed that the voluntary striking-off fee has been raised from N25,000 (for small companies) to N50,000, and N100,000 for public entities.

Relisting of a Company now costs N50,000 for LTD/GTE and N100,000 for public companies.

Due Diligence Search (Self-Service) has been fixed at N50,000 across all categories.

The commission said the request for an extension of time to hold the annual general meeting will now cost N100,000 for public companies, and N50,000 for others.

Historical Search Reports: Depending on the type, public users will now pay N20,000 to N30,000 per request.Other charges include N25,000 for restriction of the director’s residential address and N5,000 per certified true copy of documents or extracts.Under Limited Partnerships, the updated fees are as follows voluntary Striking Off and Relisting: N25,000, letter of good standing: N10,000, Registration and CTC of Documents: N30,000, Change of Name: N10,000.

For Business Names, the structure reflects modest increments of N10, 000 for voluntary striking off, relisting: N25,000, application for cessation N10,000, CTC of Documents/Extract: N5,000 each, restriction of Proprietor’s Address: N25,000.

The commission stated that name reservations across the board remain at N1,000 while name reservations for restricted words cost N5,000.”

Continue Reading

Business

June Tax Returns: FIRS Extends Office Hours to Weekends

“As you are aware, the month of June marks the peak of the annual Companies Income Tax (CIT) filling season, with many taxpayers whose financial year ends 31st December expected to file their tax returns by June 30.“

Published

on

By

33 Views

THE Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zaacheus Adedeji, has directed the extension of tax office operations to weekends for the month of June.

In a statement on Monday, Dare Adekanmbi, Special Adviser on Media to the FIRS chairman, explained that the directive is part of Adedeji’s commitment to matching the agency’s customer-centric policy with tangible action.

The statement reads: “The weekends service, which started on June 14, will end on Sunday, June 29, “and it is aimed at helping companies who are mandated by law to file their tax returns by the end of the month meet up with the deadline.”

“With the directive, tax offices are expected to open for business from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday and 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday throughout the month of June.”

Consequent upon Adedeji’s approval, the Coordinating Directors of Large Taxpayers Group (LTG), Government and Medium Taxpayers Group (GMTG) as well as Emerging Taxpayers Group (ETG), Ms Amina Ado, Dr Dick Irri and Mr Kabir Abba respectively have conveyed the decision of the management to all staff in the tax offices in the three groups.

“As you are aware, the month of June marks the peak of the annual Companies Income Tax (CIT) filling season, with many taxpayers whose financial year ends 31st December expected to file their tax returns by June 30.“

To ease the process for taxpayers, enhance service delivery, and maximize tax collection during this critical period, management has approved extension of tax office operations to weekends for the month of June 2025,” a directive jointly signed by the three Coordinating Directors said.

The FIRS chairman, on assumption of office, reorganized tax operations for ease of tax payment, leading the transformation of the agency from merely being a tax-collecting entity to a service-providing body.

Continue Reading

Trending