Economy
FG Stops Advance Income Tax Payment on Interim Dividends
By Dipo Olowookere
**Exempts Stamp Duty on Same Owner Account Transfer
Any bank transfer between two accounts owned by the same person or organisation will no longer be subjected to stamp duty, the federal government has said.
Last month, President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Finance Act 2019, approving the review of stamp duty charged on financial transactions done by bank customers.
Before it was signed, banks charged N50 on transactions above N1,000, but after it was signed, the amount became effective on payments more than N10,000.
At the Udo Udoma and Belo Osagie Second Private Equity Summit: Fundraising and Deal Academy held in Lagos recently, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, highlighted some of the benefits of the Finance Act.
According to her, in order to make things better for citizens, federal government exempted stamp duty from same owner account transfer and also eliminated tax costs from genuine business reorganisation within a group, especially including specific exemption for value added tax (VAT) and Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on the transactions, which were previously dealt with informally.
Speaking further at the event themed Drivers, Disruptors and Unlocking Value, the Minister said the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari removed the payment of advance income tax on interim dividends.
Business Post gathered that before now, every company operating in the country liable to tax under the Companies Income Tax Act (CITA) was required to make an advance payment of its Company Income Tax (CIT) prior to paying interim dividends to shareholders.
Mrs Ahmed, at the summit, said explained that government came up with this policy to make the nation’s capital market attractive to investors.
According to an analysis by KPMG, “This requirement is generally regarded by taxpayers as moribund, though it was not deleted from the law, after Nigeria transitioned in 1993 from the provisional-tax-cum-government-assessment era to the self-assessment regime.
“It was in the same year that the scope of transactions liable to WHT, which was limited at the time to interest, royalty, rent and dividend payment, was significantly expanded to cover payments relating to active business transactions.
“Consequently, the general view was that the WHT deducted from companies’ income from business transactions, which is an advance payment of their CIT, made the requirement to pay advance CIT prior to paying interim dividend redundant.”
The reputable consulting firm further stated that, “The repeal of this provision as contained in the Finance Act is, therefore, a welcome development to many taxpayers.”
“However, in deleting the provision, the WHT exemption on dividends in specie has also been removed. Taxpayers who would typically pay dividends in the form of scrip issue are therefore encouraged to take note of this significant change.”
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The much-awaited Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Oando Plc will take place on Tuesday, December 17, 2024, at 10 am in Lagos, a statement from the energy company has revealed.
The day would be used to present the audited financial statements of the organisation for the year ended December 31, 2023, to shareholders.
Oando will also seek the approval of investors to appoint Mr Ken Igbokwe and Mr Bashir Bello to the boards of the company with effect from Monday, November 25, 2024.
Mr Igbokwe is a highly experienced management and consulting professional with over 35 years of expertise in various sectors, including oil and gas, financial services and the public sector.
During his distinguished career at PwC Nigeria, he held key leadership roles in Assurance, Tax and Consulting.
His experience spans a wide range of areas such as statutory, financial and process audits and assurance, business valuations, dispute resolution, financial and information systems risk management, corporate strategy development, corporate performance management, and tax planning.
In his role as Country Leader of PwC Nigeria, Mr Igbokwe was responsible for driving strategic thinking and the visioning that underpinned the growth of the firm.
He was in this leadership position for 10 years during which PwC Nigeria’s business recorded tremendous growth with PwC becoming the leading “Big 4” brand. He led the PwC West Africa business into the Africa-wide PwC merger in 2012.
The new appointee contributes to public discourse and debates on public sector transformation in Nigeria and on matters which focus on corporate governance and the strengthening of the investment climate.
Mr Igbokwe holds a B.Sc. (Eng) degree in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College, London University, which he attended as a Shell Scholar and graduated from, in 1978.
He is a current member of the Institutes of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and Nigeria. He is also a current member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria.
On his part, Mr Bello is an oil and gas professional with over 32 years of experience in Technical and Executive Management positions across the industry. His expertise spans all sectors, from Downstream (Refining) to Midstream (LNG) and Upstream (Exploration and Production), with a strong focus on Operations, Engineering, Project Management, and Corporate Governance.
He has served as a Board Member for Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, Bonny Gas Transport Company, NLNG Ship Manning Company Limited, and various Board Committees of Nigeria LNG.
With a proven ability in Interface and Stakeholder Management, he is skilled at delivering business value in Joint Ventures with diverse shareholder agendas, managing projects with complex interfaces and stakeholder expectations, and overseeing operations with diverse functional requirements and limited resources.
Mr Bello holds a Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng.) in Mechanical Engineering from Bayero University Kano, Nigeria. He is a Fellow of the Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE), and a Registered Engineer with the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN).
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised the monetary policy rate by 25 basis points to 27.50 per cent to further tackle rising inflation in Nigeria.
This was disclosed by the Governor of the apex bank, Mr Yemi Cardoso, at the end of the 298th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja.
This is the sixth time that the country has hiked interest rate this year after it announced a 50-basis-point that brought the previous rate to 27.25 per cent in September 2024.
The rationale for increasing interest rates is that higher interest rates increase the cost of borrowing for individuals and businesses. This creates a ripple effect that reduces loans spent on items like homes, cars, and investments and curbs overall spending in the economy.
Normally, low interest rates can lead to excessive borrowing and investments in assets that will then inflate their prices.
Also, increased interest rates make saving more attractive as depositors earn more on their savings. It is widely accepted that saving reduces the demand for goods and services and thus helps to stabilise prices.
Mr Cardoso also used the opportunity to reiterate that the CBN will continue to employ necessary means to bring down inflation.
He projected that Nigeria’s high inflation should moderate by the end of the first quarter of 2025.
The inflation rate continued its upward trend in October 2024, impacted by rises in the price of food, electricity, and fuels, as it came in at 33.88 per cent, relative to the September 2024 headline inflation rate of 32.70 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange dropped by 0.37 per cent to open the week on a negative foot on Monday, November 25.
The NASD OTC market capitalisation lost N3.95 billion during the trading day to settle at N1.050 trillion compared with the previous trading day’s N1.054 trillion and the Unlisted Security Index (NSI) decreased by 11.26 points to wrap the session at 2,997.68 points compared with 3,008.94 points recorded in the previous session.
This happened as there was no gainer or loser on record during the session, according to daily trading data.
However, there was a rise in the volume of securities traded during the opening session of the week as investors exchanged 1.7 million units compared with last Friday’s 157,791 units, indicating an increase of 948 per cent.
Also, the value of shares traded yesterday grew by 4.8 per cent to N6.5 million from the N6.2 million recorded in the preceding trading day.
The number of deals carried out in the trading session remained unchanged at 20 deals.
Geo-Fluids Plc remained as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.7 billion units sold for N3.9 billion, Okitipupa Plc came next with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc followed with 297.3 million units worth N5.3 billion.
Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 108.7 million units worth N89.2 billion, Okitipupa Plc came next with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc was in third with 297.3 million units sold for N5.3 billion.
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