By John Okoh
Two federal agencies, the Nigeria Postal Services, NIPOST and the Federal Inland Revenue, FIRS have taken to twitter on Tuesday to settle scores over who should collect stamp duties, the new tax among others, which the government has devised to shore up dwindling revenue from oil and allied sources.
In the fight, it is obvious that a thin line of interpretation and comprehension in the Finance Act, 2019, is the source of the problem
On Monday, the FIRS issued an information circular on the amendment on the Stamp Duties Act introduced by the Finance Act (FA) 2019.
The highlights included electronic documents as instruments liable to stamp duties, electronic stamping and denoting of documents, and updates to the definition of certain terms.
In the circular, the FIRS clarified that stamp duties apply on written, printed or electronic dutiable documents and receipts, and provides examples such as e-mails, short message service (sms), instant messages (IM), documents on website or cloud-based platforms, POS receipts, and Automated Teller Machine (ATM) printouts.
For example, In line with the amended SDA, a N50 stamp duty is payable on any bank deposit or transfer of N10,000 or more, except deposits or transfers between accounts maintained by the same person in the same bank
However, In a series of tweets on Tuesday, Mrs Amaimuna Abubakar, Board Chairman of NIPOST, said the administration of stamp duty in Nigeria was legally the agency’s idea and duty and accused FIRS of not only usurping that role but also haven stolen the idea from her agency.
Miffed by the tweets, the FIRS replied through its Director Communication and Liaison, Abdullahi Ismaila Ahmad, accusing Abubakar of mischief and threatened to drag her and her organization before the law.
According to Abubakar, “The Tax Certificate or a Tax Clearance Certificate and any other formalized document issued by the FIRS whether in the form of a paper copy or an electronic copy which is printed out remains a document liable to be denoted with an adhesive postage stamp minted by NIPOST
“The Finance Act 2019 did not delete nor repeal neither did it amend Section 5(d) nor Section 34(1) and (2) of the NIPOST Act 2004.
“Section 34(2) of the NIPOST Act 2004 provides and vests in the Postmaster General of NIPOST the power to appoint or engage agents as business partners to sell by retailing the adhesive postage stamps minted by NIPOST.
“Under the extant laws of Nigeria to wit the NIPOST Act, the Stamp Duties Act and the Finance Act, the adhesive postage stamp is not only used for postage it is the only stamp with which denoting of ALL receipts documents and registrable instruments is to be done in Nigeria.
FIRS’ Ahmad, tongue in cheek, said she is mistaking stamp duty for postage stamp. In a reply titled, “That Vexed NIPOST Tweet By Mrs. Maimuna Abubakar”, he said,
“We appreciate the general public for demonstrating deep knowledge of the difference between Stamp Duty and Postage Stamp. It is unfortunate that Mrs. Maimuna Abubakar, Chairperson of the NIPOST Board is yet to understand this.
“To be sure, NIPOST is a government parastatal established by Decree 41 of 1992 with the function to *develop, promote, and provide adequate and efficiently co-ordinated postal services at reasonable rates* .
“This function is clearly contrary to the claim by NIPOST over the administration of stamp duties in Nigeria.
“On the other hand, the FIRS is the sole agency of got charged with the responsibility of *assessing, collecting, and accounting for all tax types including Stamp Duties*”
He did not stop there. He went personal, “It is therefore shocking to us that such a privileged young lady who happened to be appointed to high office would throw all caution to the air to cast aspersions on reputable public institutions like the National Assembly and FIRS, which she accused of stealing NIPOST idea.
“This, to say the least, is a preposterous claim and great disservice to the government and people of Nigeria.
“We wish to state categorically that, as an agency which operates within the ambit of the law…
“The FIRS is determined to not only ensure that all monies collected by NIPOST into its illegally operated Stamp Duties Account are fully remitted into the Federation Account but also make sure that any kobo not accounted for in that account is legally recovered in line with the charge of President Muhammadu Buhari to the recently inaugurated Inter-ministerial committee on the recovery of stamp duties from 2016 till date.
“In addition, anyone found culpable of misappropriating the funds in the said illegal NIPOST Stamp Duties Account would be made to face the law as provisioned by the country’s statute books.
“The public is hereby reminded that we at the FIRS are resolute in our resolve to safeguard national interests and not any personal ego or interest as NIPOST officials appear to carry on lately.
“We therefore call on right-thinking Nigerians to disregard that ill-advised tweet by Mrs. Maimuna Abubakar and allied misinformation being disseminated by NIPOST in relation to Stamp Duties collection, which by law is the responsibility of the FIRS.
Unrelenting, Abubakar fired back, “There is no where in FIRS Act or Stamp Duty Act where it’s so stated that FIRS can produce stamp or sale stamp.
“Did you know that NIPOST had generated over N60b in NIPOST CBN account for the Federal Government, she asked and alerted the public that, “what is happening, are we expected to keep quiet and let FIRS kill and bury NIPOST?. We need to get our mandate back. FIRS did not only steal our stamps but also our ideas, what NIPOST had worked for since 2016, our documents, patents and sneaked everything into the finance bill and tactically removed the name of NIPOST.”
The fight has attracted Nigerians who have jumped into it, for and against.
