Has The Apparent Collapse Of Stamp Duty Collection Argument By FIRS Led To Sponsored Media Attacks On NIPOST?

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Immediately Dr Isah Ali Pantami, the Minister of
Communication and Digital Economy’s statement to the effect that, the Nigerian
Postal Service (NIPOST), should be allowed to collect stamp duty, just like the
Customs collects duties; gained traction in Nigeria, Federal Inland Revenue
Service (FIRS), which has been seeking to impose itself as the sole agency
responsible for tax collection in Nigeria became jittery and desperate.

FIRS’s desperation which is a function of its inordinate
effort to become a Rent seeking organization in Nigeria, can easily be seen in
the number of poorly scripted articles they apparently sponsored in the media,
particularly, the social media against NIPOST. A situation whereby an
establishment of government, collects 4% on the amount accrue-able to
government in a year from stamp duty, as expenses it incurred in the course of
collecting such, without dissipating energy whatsoever, amounts, to rent
seeking. What this simply means is that FIRS desperately wants to be collecting
4% from government without work. In the light of this fact, one can clearly see
where the desperation to monopolize stamp duty collection by the agency is
coming from. The danger in this type of rent collection by government agency is
that it promotes corruption.

Perhaps, another reason behind FIRS’s blind ambition to see
at all cost, that the right to collect stamp duty is ceded to it by government,
is the ease at which the duty can be collected now. It could be recalled that
on 15th January 2016, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), directed all
commercial banks in Nigeria, to start deduction of N50 for any transaction
above one thousand naira (N1000); in accordance with the Stamp Duty Act of
2004. This development made it easy to track and route stamp duty proceeds to
the federation account. So, what the FIRS intend to profit from this easy
method, is just that 4%, nothing more. It is doubtful FIRS would have bothered
itself with stamp duty collection, if they are to perform the task of affixing
N50 stamp on transactional documents as required by law.

On February 19, 2020, Dr Adewusi led NIPOST management team
paid a visit to Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) to explore areas of
collaboration on digital financial services. The visit was widely publicized by
national dallies in Nigeria; however, one online newspaper,
busnesshighlights.com.ng, probably commissioned by interest sympathetic to
FIRS, to attack Dr Adewusi-led NIPOST management team, elected to add mischief
to its own version of the report of the visit. In the online opening paragraph,
it has this to say: Following the recent loss of the battle to control the
collection of Stamp Duty to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (NIPOST) has
stepped up efforts to find relevance of existence.—- . Although, this writer
should not have joined issue with this online newspaper, as other reputable
dallies had reported accurately, what transpired between NIPOST and NCC, but
for Nigerians who deserve to know the real issues in contention as regard the
stamp duty. In the first place, FIRS now knows that Nigerians are aware Customs
collects tax on behalf of federal government too. The Court (Judiciary)
collects stamp duty fee on deeds. In perfecting deed of assignment, partnership
etc, the Court collects fees for that, yet, FIRS says they are the only agency
saddled with the responsibility of collecting tax in Nigeria. Isn’t it obvious
that the argument of tax collection monopoly by FIRS has collapsed?

Secondly, even if the two chambers of National Assembly pass
a law that allows FIRS collect stamp duty on behalf of federal government, the
President and Commander -in- Chief, Muhammadu Buhari, may not sign such bill to
law because such arrangement is not economically viable based on the most
important principles of taxation (the cost of collecting tax most not outweigh
the benefit). Unless, NASS was heavily
compromised, it can never enact a law that takes away the right and custodian
of Stamp from NIPOST. The question on the lips of Nigerians is, even if FIRS is
given the go ahead to collect stamp duty, how will it go about it, will it buy
stamps from NIPOST and then, administer it, according to the law? If this
scenario should be the case, what happens to the principles of taxation? It is
obvious that if FIRS is allow to collect stamp duty, the revenue accrue-able to
federal government from the sale of stamp will be wiped out because it will be
far more costly.

Apart from FIRS insistence and desperation to collect 4% as
the expenses for collecting stamp duty from structured sources, how will the
agency collect stamp duty from unstructured sources? Will FIRS take over the
custodian of stamp too, appoint or commission agents that will sell stamps to
Nigerians for transactional purposes?

In the lager interest of Nigeria, whoever is sponsoring
attack on Dr Adewusi-led NIPOST on stamp duty collection right, should desist
from such action because it is doomed to fail, not because NIPOST has the
financial muscle to fight back; but simply because economically, it is, and
will not be in the interest of federal government for FIRS to collect stamp
duty on her behalf, for the simple reason that the cost of collecting such tax
will far outweigh the benefit!

Emeka Oraetoka

Information Management Consultant & Researcher

Wrote in from Abuja

e-mail: giltsdaimension@gmail.com.

GSM: 08056031187 09039094636.