Modupe Gbadeyanka
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Commercial banks operating in Nigeria have maintained that they would not allocate foreign exchange (FX) to any customer who refuses to submit a tax clearance certificate for processing basic travel allowance (BTA) and others.
In what looks like a coordinated message sent to their customers between Tuesday, May 30 and Thursday, June 1, 2023, the lenders reminded their customers that the presentation of TCC was one of the requirements for the allocation of forex for the payment of school fees, medical fees and others abroad.
“In line with regulatory directives, please note that your current tax clearance certificate would now be required for processing the following foreign exchange (FX) transactions; PTA/BTA, school fees, maintenance/upkeep, and medical.
“Consequently, you would be required to upload a copy of your current Tax Clearance Certificate in addition to other required documents on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Trade Monitoring System (TRMS) portal for Form A requests,” a message sent by Fidelity Bank to its customers said.
On its part, GTBank informed its customers that, “In line with the directives of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and compliance with the provisions in the Personal Income Tax Act, the submission of your Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC) is now mandatory for the following Form A requests.
“School Fees Payment, Medical Bill Payments, Personal Travel Allowance (PTA). Personal Home Remittances and all other Foreign Exchange transactions for individual customers.
“It is important to submit your Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC) to ensure the smooth processing of all requests stated above.”
Some customers have expressed mixed feelings with this policy, arguing that it was introduced because of a shortage in the supply of forex in the country.
