FIRS to pay taxpayers N200,000 relief allowance

Taxpayers in
Nigeria are now
entitled to a
Consolidated
Relief Allowance
(CRA) of
N200,000, a top
official of the
Federal Inland
Revenue Service
(FIRS), has said.
Mr Samuel
Ogungbesan,
Coordinating
Director, Field
Operations of
FIRS, disclosed
this on Thursday
in Abuja at a
workshop
organised for
Ministries,
Departments and
Agencies (MDAs)
on the amended
Personal Income
Tax Act (PITA)
of 2011.
Ogungbesan told
tax
administrators of
MDAs that the
allowance was a
major highlight of
some “radical
changes’’
introduced in the
new PITA which
was signed into
law in March.
The thrust of
the Act
mandates the
President, the
Vice President,
governors, their
deputies and
other political
office holders to
pay taxes on
their allowances
with effect from
April.
He listed other
highlights of the
amended PITA
to include a
penalty of N5
million or
imprisonment for
three years or
both for failure
to confirm Tax
Clearance
Certificate (TCC)
from the tax
authority that
issued same.
“The introduction
of Consolidated
Relief Allowance
of N200, 000 or 1
per cent of gross
salary or
whichever is
higher plus 20 per
cent of gross
salary.
“All taxpayers
are now
mandatorily
required to file
self-assessment
of their income
tax returns.’’
According to him,
the new law
empowers the
Accountant-
General of the
Federation to
deduct at source
from budgetary
allocation to
MDAs the
amount of tax
that they failed
to deduct and
remit to the
relevant tax
body.
“The Personal
Income Tax
(Amendment)
Act, 2011
introduced some
radical changes
into the
administration of
PITA, hence the
need for this
sensitisation
exercise.
“So that all
stakeholders will
be familiar with
these changes,
so that nobody
will be caught on
the wrong side
of the law,’’ he
said.
NAN learnt that
the introduction
of CRA seeks to
ensure
uniformity in the
assessment of
taxable persons
and also simplify
the process of
arriving at the
personal income
tax payable by an
individual.
The workshop
was declared
open by the
acting Chairman
of the FIRS, Mr
Kabir Mashi.
Mashi announced
the
establishment of
a new
department
dedicated to
handing PITAS
matters in the
FCT known as
Individual and
Enterprises
Income Tax
Department.
He said that the
department
would handle
personal income
tax
administration
matters for
large, medium,
micro and small
tax payers.
According to him,
the management
of FIRS has
“segregated’’ tax
payers into three
categories.
They are large
taxpayers, those
with turnover of
N1 billion, medium
taxpayers, those
with income of
N200 million to
N999 million and
below N200
million for micro
and small tax
payers. (NAN)