Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the launch of technological means to tax all digital transactions conducted out across the country.
This was made known by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha at the 17th General Assembly and the 10th anniversary of the West Africa Tax Administration Forum (WATAF) in Abuja yesterday.
The assembly is a high-level policy dialogue on taxation of the digital economy, organised by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
According to Boss Mustapha, President Muhammadu Buhari gave the order to tax authority to ensure that there is digital taxation on all digital transactions, stating that the purpose of their efforts was to achieve seamless digital collection and remittance of tax revenue gathered from the digital economy. He also said the President had directed the deployment of technology to good effect in revenue collection and remittance as a matter of government policy.
"This is supported by the amendment to the tax laws and empowering the tax authority to deploy technology in tax." The SGF said.
Mustapha stated that "Our definition of what to collect- whether we call it income tax, Digital Service Tax or Value Added Tax, must address the issue of redefining who a taxable person or entity is, to accommodate the fact that digital transactions side-track the ordinary and traditional understanding of jurisdiction."
Meanwhile, in his remarks, the Chairman of FIRS, Mr Mohammed Nami called for a joint effort among African states to create income from digital-oriented businesses.
"Tax regulators and other industry stakeholders must therefore rise up to the challenge of being in a position to tap into the stream of opportunity that advancements in science and technology afford us. Science and Technology are not only about rockets going to space, but it is also about effective tax collection and we must maximize it in every possible way we can." He said.
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