February 2, 2018
In line with a recently issued Joint Statement by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS), the FCT-IRS has released new Employer’s Taxpayer Registration Forms, Individual Taxpayer Registration Forms and Enterprise Application Forms for Tax Clearance Certificate, for ease of administration.
Based on the Joint Statement, the FCT-IRS will administer all non-Federally collectible taxes with respect to individuals and enterprises resident in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, going forward. Thus, it will administer Personal Income Tax, FCT Property Tax, Withholding Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Stamp Duties and all other taxes and levies within its jurisdiction.
The FCT-IRS was established pursuant to the Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service Act, 2015. However, the FCT-IRS had earlier agreed with the FIRS in 2016, for the latter to collect the relevant taxes on its behalf, pending its full operationalisation but announced in December 2017 that it would now take over its tax collection responsibilities.
The new forms require, amongst other details, the Bank Verification Number and FCT-IRS Tax Identification Number of taxpayers. The registration forms also include relevant spaces for indicating previous FIRS-issued Tax Identification Numbers. It is expected that this will ensure that the FCT-IRS’s platform is updated with old taxpayers’ records.
The issuance of the Joint Statement and the forms marks a new phase of tax administration in the FCT. Thus, taxpayers, resident in the FCT should, going forward, be able to remit and file relevant tax returns with the FCT-IRS.