The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) have concluded arrangements to adjust some sections of the signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the efficient management of the free trade zones tax system to accommodate salient concerns of stakeholders.
Both agencies on June 7, had earlier signed the tax pact to reconcile all grey areas in the administration on issues bordering tax deductions from free zones and enterprises operating in the zones respectively.
The agreement to adjust the MoU was reached yesterday, during a roundtable where the document was formally presented to the stakeholders in Lagos.
A cross-section of the stakeholders had raised concerns about some sections of the guidelines as according to them, those sections contravened some provisions of the NEPZA Act for operators in the free zones.
Addressing stakeholders at the forum, NEPZA Managing Director, Prof. Adesoji Adesugba explained that the event was to make adjustments where necessary on how the FIRS and NEPZA would treat tax issues relating to business interactions within the free trade zone ecosystem.
According to him, section 5 of the MoU had given parties the leverage to call for the amendment of the tax guidelines when necessary.
He said: ‘The Authority’s recent diplomatic advances with sister agencies, especially the FIRS, can only be described as a game changer. We now see ourselves as partners in progress.
“We have always insisted that the free trade zone scheme must be allowed to succeed as that truly remains a potent economic instrument for widespread growth and development”.
He further noted, “Therefore, we have agreed to adjust the tax pact to capture some of the salient concerns of the stakeholders. The Authority will not shy away from protecting the scheme and those who have invested billions of dollars in the scheme. We are delighted that the FIRS has become our advocate in this regard.
“We are also happy that the administration of President Muhammad Buhari has given us the impetus through his favourable policies to deepen the growth of the scheme.
In his contributions, the Executive Chairman of the FIRS, Mohammed Nami promised to evaluate the concerns of the stakeholders, adding the document was a flexible guideline on how to administer the MoU.
Represented by Mathew Gbonjubola, the Coordinating Director of the service Nina stressed that not all the concerns raised were genuine arguing that the FIRS was knowledgeable enough on issues around free trade zone tax administration.
