COVID – 19: FIRS offers palliative measures to cushion effects on taxpayers

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), in its response to the impact of the Coronavirus on its operations, has launched business continuity plan and measures to ensure the safety and well-being of taxpayers and other stakeholders. In order to cushion the effects, the tax agency has introduced some measures, which are designed to relieve taxpayers of the burden of tax compliance at this time while also ensuring the safety of its staff, taxpayers and the general public.

The Executive Chairman of FIRS Muhammadu Nami in a statement said “On 31 March 2020, the Management of FIRS had a virtual meeting, following the Federal Government’s lockdown of FCT, Lagos, and Ogun States on 29th March 2020 as one of the measures to contain the spread of Corona Virus, COVID – 19. We discussed specifically the necessity of FIRS  to remain committed to supporting the Taxpayers to continue to thrive even when faced with the pressure of generating increased tax revenue for the Government. Throughout the days and months ahead, we want to reassure you that supporting Nigeria’s diverse and dynamic businesses through this uncertain time is our topmost priority. The response to the current situation is evolving rapidly, with advice and guidance changing daily. In the meantime, FIRS has setup a number of measures to provide support to TaxPayers in managing their tax obligations as they are impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. These are: 

“Taxpayers can now take advantage of our simple, user friendly   and robust eFiling process  to  submit their documents online instead of visiting the tax offices. Our dedicated email addresses for each of the offices are available on our website: www.firs.gov.ng. Late Returns Penalty (LRP) has been waived for taxpayers who pay early and file later. Supporting documents can also be emailed to the dedicated email addresses or submitted later to the tax offices by those who are not able to use the email facility. Remittance of VAT on or before 21st of every month has been extended to the last day of the month.  Taxpayers facing challenges in sourcing for FOREX to offset their liabilities are hereby given the option of paying in Naira at the prevailing Investors & Exporters (I & E) FOREX window rate on the day of payment.

“The period to file PIT returns for Foreign Affairs, Non Residents, Military and Police has been extended to the 30th June, 2020. Field Audit, Investigations and Monitoring visits have been suspended till further notice. I commend the businesses that have made commitments, some of which have been followed through with payments. I thank you for your demonstration of uncommon patriotism. My team and I are committed to, as a priority, providing support to all Taxpayers as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari  in his lockdown speech of Sunday 29th March 2020. We will keep you updated with information specific to Taxpayers as it becomes expedient and on how the Service can continue to support you while we maintain essential services in these trying times”.