FIRS Announces New Tax Clearance Certificate Regime

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has announced a new Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC) regime. This was announced in a public notice signed by Mr. Muhammad Nami, Chairman, FIRS. The Service also announced that it is offering a 30- day window to enable taxpayers obtain TCC.

The new TCC regime, according to a public notice, will make it easier for taxpayers to obtain TCC.

The FIRS Chairman noted that the offer to ease issuance of TCC is in accordance with the provisions of Section 101 (1) of CITA LFN 2004 and in conformity with Self-Assessment Regulation, 2011.

He warned that the Service will not fail to invoke the provisions of the law, including enforcement and imposition of lien if it is apparent that a taxpayer has misled the FIRS to issue a TCC.

“Following the numerous complaints received from our esteemed taxpayers with respect to difficulties encountered before obtaining Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC) and the fact that taxpayers need TCC to enable them to, inter alia, seek and obtain contracts and loans, renew permits, registrations, franchises, agreements and/or licenses that will invariably generate revenue from which taxes will be paid, Management has looked into the above complaints and has taken steps to ease the process of obtaining TCC.

“Consequently, notice is hereby given that the Service has put in place machinery to issue 2020 TCC for all eligible taxpayers from 2nd January to 31st January, 2020.

“The Service may not hesitate to use enforcement activities including imposition of  lien on bank accounts of such defaulting companies to recover any outstanding debts when it  discovers that the taxpayer has misled the Service in her duty to observe tax compliance.

“The issuance of TCC to ease the burden  of taxpayers is in line with the provisions of Section 101 (1) of CITA LFN 2004 and in conformity with Self-Assessment Regulation, 2011.

“Taxpayers are therefore encouraged to take advantage of this initiative and apply for their 2020 TCC, as soon as possible,” the notice read.