By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government on Thursday asked all persons holding accounts across financial institutions, including insurance firms, to fill and submit Self-Certification Forms.
This was disclosed through the official Nigerian government handle in a now-deleted series of tweets.
The directive noted that persons holding accounts in different financial institutions are required to complete and submit the form to each one of the institutions. This means if a person has an account with more than one bank or even with an insurance firm, they will have to do the process in every one of these institutions.
“This is to notify the general public that all account holders in financial institutions (banks, insurance companies, etc) are required to obtain, complete and submit Self–Certification Forms to their respective financial institutions.
“Persons holding accounts in different financial institutions is required to complete and submit the form to each one of the institutions. The forms are required by the relevant financial institutions to carry out due diligence procedures in line with the Income Tax Regulations 2019,” the tweets read.
According to the FG, the self-certification will be in three categories. These are Form for Entity, for Controlling Person (That is, individuals having controlling interest in a legal person, trustee, etc), and form for an individual.
The Nigerian government then threatened to execute consequences such as monetary penalty or blocking such accounts for Nigerians who default on doing the necessary.
“Failure to comply with the requirement to administer or execute this form attracts sanctions which may include monetary penalty or inability to operate the account. For more enquiries, visit FIRS’ website,” it said.
Reactions
The order was received with negative reactions as Nigerians lamented that the exercise was coming despite the existence of Bank Verification Number (BVN), National Identification Number (NIN) and National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) in the country.
Many have also cited the current coronavirus pandemic as a major factor that the government should have considered. Many banks are still closed and even if they were not, the queueing at banks negates the social distancing rule which put many at the mercy of contracting the disease.
FIRS Steps In
Following this, the FIRS on Friday clarified that the Self-Certification form is to be administered on reportable persons holding accounts in financial institutions that are regarded as “Reportable Financial Institutions” under the CRS.
Reportable persons are often non-residents and other persons who have a residence for tax purposes in more than one jurisdiction or country.
As a result, financial institutions are expected to administer the Self-Certification form a person resident for tax purpose in more than one jurisdiction. Take for instance, in Nigeria and the United States.
Modupe Gbadeyanka