If there is anything that is constant in life, it is change. Nothing stays the same. However, one unique quality the Creator deposited in every one of his creatures is the ability to adapt to changes.
It is pretty funny to imagine today that as at May 2000, about twenty years ago, there were less than 50,000 people who actually had mobile phones in Nigeria. Today, virtually every adult in Nigeria owns at least one mobile phone, be it a smartphone or a feature phone. The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) estimates that there are over 173 million mobile phone lines in Nigeria today. I have often wondered what would happen if for some reason, mobile telecommunication ceased. Would we be able to adapt to the new reality, especially considering that our lives now practically depend on it? I’ll answer that question in a bit. Allow me to digress a little.
Four months ago, it was almost unimaginable that a time would come where our lives would be so conditioned to the extent that the very normal things we did and took for granted would now become a rare privilege. Shaking of hands, Hugging, Parties, Events, Gatherings, Communication, Business . . . I could go on and on. The list is endless. The underlying fact is that life is no longer the same. We have all had to make adjustments we never thought we would ever be required to make. We have however since adapted and we continue to survive.
To answer my earlier question, I totally believe we all have that innate ability to adapt to anything life throws at us; good, bad or ugly, so yes, if for some strange reason, mobile telecommunication technology goes extinct tomorrow or even technology as we know it ceases, we shall survive. We existed before these things came and we would simply adjust and adapt like we always do. Health crisis; Hunger crisis; Natural disasters and any other form of discomfort may come our way, but we shall overcome and come out stronger and wiser at the end.
I remain positive we shall overcome the Covid-19 pandemic eventually. We may not know for sure or how long it would take; our economy and our lives may take painful hits, but like the strong people we are, we would rise up, dust our clothes and move on. We are stronger than we look.
In this Issue:
- We continue the series we began two weeks ago in our weekly TaxThursday Bulletins focused on the available incentives in the tax regime put in place by the Federal Government and its various agencies. We reproduce the incentives on Personal Income Tax (PIT) and Companies Income Tax (CIT) in preparation for the upcoming PIT and CIT Returns filings.
- Earlier this month, we compiled a report on the 2019 Poverty and Inequality Report in Nigeria culled from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Please read here.
- The latest GDP Report (Q1 2020) also released by the National Bureau of Statistics has revealed that Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 1.87% (year-on-year). The performance recorded in Q1 2020 represents a drop of –0.23% points compared to Q1 2019 and –0.68% points compared to Q4 2019. We present the snapshots of Q1 2020 GDP Report.
- Cross River State has set up an Anti-Tax Agency to prosecute illegal tax collectors. Read more here.
- Anambra State has proposed a downward review of its 2020 budget by about 18% from N137.1 billion to N112.8 billion. Read more here.
- Please remember that the Lagos Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) has further extended the 2019 Personal Income Tax Returns Filing for individual taxpayers including self-employed persons that are resident in Lagos State to June 30, 2020. Taxaide‘s Professional Personnel can assist you in performing your PIT obligations and avoiding the stiff penalties for failure to comply.
- The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has extended the filing deadline for the 2019 Common Reporting Standard Information Returns by Reporting Financial Institutions from 31st May to 30th September 2020. Taxaide’s technology flagship, Taxtech can assist your Financial Institution with its due diligence and reporting obligation by automating your CRS compliance process.
- The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) slashes benchmark interest rate to 12.5% to support the economy in light of COVID-19. CBN retained the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 27.5% and the Liquidity Ratio (LR) at 30%. Read more here.
- The Q4 2019 and Full year 2019 report by the National Bureau of Statistics has shown that Lagos state has the highest Internally Generated Revenue with N398.73bn recorded, closely followed by Rivers with N140.40bn while Taraba State recorded the least Internally Generated revenue of N6.53. Please see full ranking here.
Stay tuned to our TaxThursday bulletins, our website and of course our mobile application, TBook.
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Till Next Time
GB (g.sile@localhost)
