Yomi Olugbenro, a famous tax consultant in Nigeria, has listed the top 20 changes in the Finance Act 2023, signed by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Buhari signed the Bill, now the Finance Act 2023, into law on Sunday, May 28, 2023, just before his last day in office.
It is the fourth of its kind since reintroducing the annual Finance Act in 2019.
The Act aims to promote the macroeconomic policy reforms of the federal government whilst making additional provisions and amendments to specific laws to improve tax administration and collections.
Olugbenro, a Partner and West Africa Tax Leader at Deloitte listed the changes to include:
1) Education tax increased from 2.5% to 3%
2) Excise duties have been introduced on services provided in Nigeria, including telecommunication services
3) Import levy of 0.5% has been introduced on all eligible imports from outside Africa
4) Capital gains tax is now applicable on digital assets such as cryptocurrencies at 10%
5) Investment allowance of 10% previously claimable on capex and leases has now been terminated
6) Rural investment allowance ranging from 10%-100% that was previously offered to provide infrastructure and amenities in rural areas have now been stopped
7) Tax exemption on income from convertible currencies by hotels is no longer applicable
8) Penalties for various contraventions of tax rules by petroleum companies raised by 1000x
9) Value Added Tax (VAT) withholding agents are now expected to file returns on or before the 14th day of the following month
10) Artificial transaction rules now applicable to VAT, empowering tax authority to disregard transactions, not arms’ length
11) Capital losses incurred on the disposal of chargeable assets are now deductible from capital gains with the possibility of 5 years carry-forward
12) Roll-over relief is now available for gains on disposal of shares where proceeds are reinvested within the same year
13) Downstream and midstream operators to enjoy unrestricted capital allowance claims (just like agro and manufacturing companies)
14) Relief for premiums paid on life assurance policies and deferred annuity schemes
15) Deductibility of decommissioning and abandonment cost by upstream companies
16) Non-resident suppliers of taxable goods sold on digital platforms to account for VAT chargeable on the goods if they have been appointed as tax collection agents
17) Definition of a building now excludes movable fixtures under VAT law
18) Requirement for certified financial reports by non-resident shipping and air transport companies and presentation of tax clearance certificates for any application or permit
19) Pre-operational filing requirements for petroleum operators before the commencement of bulk sales or disposal of chargeable oil are within 18 months from the date of incorporation (for newly incorporated companies) or within five months after the accounting period for any other company
20) Sharing formula for Electronic Money Transfer Levy set as 15%, 50% and 35%: federal government, state government and local government, respectively
