The Federal Government is ready to support to the 36 states to recover the backlog of stamp duties and generate more revenue for the country.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN assured of the support in a statement issued by Dr Umar Gwandu, his Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations in Abuja on Tuesday.
Malami during the virtual meeting with the States Attorney-Generals and the Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue and the Members of the Joint Task Board called for the support and cooperation of the Attorney-Generals of the 36 states and the Joint Tax Board on the proposed audit and recovery of backlog of stamp duties from Jan. 15, 2016 to June 30, 2020.
The Minister cited Section 111 of the Stamp Duty Act which states that `all duties, fines, penalties and debts due to the Government of the Federation imposed by this Act shall be recoverable in a summarily manner in the name of the Attorney General of the Federation or the State”.
He noted that by Paragraph 7, Item B of Part II of the Second Schedule to the Constitution and Section 4(2) of Stamp Duty Act, the State Governments are empowered to collect stamp duties in respect of transactions between individuals residing in their respective States.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the federal government has set up an Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Audit and Recovery of backlogs of stamp duties.
The Committee, Chaired by the Malami, was inaugurated by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha on June 30.
Membership of the Committee are drawn from the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, Central Bank of Nigeria and Federal Inland Revenue Serves.
The Stamp Duties were originally captured in the Stamp Duties Act 1939 (Ordinance 41 of the 1939) and amended by numerous Acts and various resolutions and contained in the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
Recently, the Finance Act 2019 amendment to the Stamp Duties Act, particularly Section 52 to 56 clearly defined the responsibilities for the administration of Stamp Duties in Nigeria and jurisdiction of participating taxing authorizes, as well as explained that the Federal Inland Revenue is the competent tax authority to administer, assess, collect, and account for stamp duty in the country. (NAN)