THE TAXAIDER NEWSLETTER VOL 2, ISSUE 9 (SEPTEMBER 2020)

First Thoughts: The Underdog Story

The idea of politics fascinates me to no end. While I wouldn’t necessarily call myself partisan, I am honest enough to say I do a lot of watching on the side lines. I am not a registered member of any political party in Nigeria, but I have always tried to be a good citizen and cast my votes a couple of times since the first time I voted in 2007. I had missed the 2003 elections by whiskers as I was yet to hit the voter eligibility age of 18 at the time. Elections, both in Nigeria and outside Nigeria have continued to thrill me even till date. For instance, I can hardly wait for the U.S.A Presidential Elections in November.

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Constant increase in the inflation rate – Nigeria’s CPI August 2020 Report

The latest CPI and Inflation Report released by the National Bureau of Statistics has revealed that inflation increased by 13.22% (Year-on-Year) in August 2020. This is 0.40% points higher than the rate recorded in July 2020 (12.82%).

It’s is not so surprising that the consumer price index (CPI) in Nigeria rose to its highest in over 3 years in the previous month (August 2020). The increase in the price of food is said to be the major reason in this hike.

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TAT’s Decisions on VAT on Real Property Leases – Some Clarifications

As you are aware, on Tuesday, 10th September 2020, the Tax Appeal Tribunal sitting in Lagos State, Nigeria (TAT) delivered Judgement in  Appeal No. TAT/LZ/VAT/029/2019: Ess-Ay Holdings Limited v. Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) (available at: https://taxaide.com.ng/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Judgement-Ess-ay-Holdings-Ltd-v.-FIRS.pdf)

Issues to be determined:

  1. Whether rental income from real property is subject to Value Added Tax (VAT) under Nigeria’s VAT Act, 1993 (as last amended in 2007)?;
  2. Whether the provisions of the FIRS Information Circular No. 9701 dated 1st January 1997 which exempted only rents from residential properties (and not commercial properties) is valid?
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FINANCIAL AND TAX MANAGEMENT FOR START-UPS IN NIGERIA

In this piece, I shall be walking you through the importance of financial and tax management for start-ups in Nigeria. In recent times, Nigeria has risen to be one of the leading business locations in Africa; most significantly for start-up businesses.

Business in Nigeria is a wonderful experience when your business venture succeeds, however before success there could be great challenges and difficulties that a new business or startup must face, one of which is usually financial and tax management.

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THE BLESSINGS OF FAAC DISTRIBUTIONS AND THE CHALLENGES IT POSES FINANCIALLY TO THE STATE GOVERNMENTS.

According to the latest Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) Disbursement Report, released by the National Bureau Statistics (NBS), the sum of N606.20bn was disbursed in May 2020 bringing a decrease of about 22% compared to the N780.93bn from the previous month (April 2020).

The drastic decline in the revenue generated in May 2020, compared to the previous month – April 2020, is an issue of great concern and reinforces the great importance of exploiting new sectors of the economy both on the Federal and State Government levels. No need for the long story of oil not being as lucrative as it was in the past years. I assume we are all aware of this by now.

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