FIRS N66bn generation on stamp duty in 5 months gets labour commendations

Organised Labour yesterday commended the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) for considerably boosting Federal Government revenue via stamp duty collection of N66 billion within five months.This is even as it praised the members of the union in the agency throughout the country for their dedication to duty.The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) Secretary-General, Alade Bashir Lawal, stated that it was quite remarkable that within the first five months of this year, the FIRS remitted N66 billion generated from Stamp Duty collection to the Federation Account.The union posited that when juxtaposed against the N18 billion realised from Stamp Duty collection between January to December 2019, the N66 billion raked in from January to May 2020 would be recognised as a rare feat indeed and a clear testimony that the FIRS management team was discharging its duties creditably.“It is against this background, we urge the Presidency, the management team of the FIRS itself, and the general public to disregard the grandstanding and disinformation being propagated by failed experts including rabble rousers masquerading as trade unionists trying to disparage the high profile performance of the revenue Agency.“Indeed, these retrogressive elements desperately seeking relevance and public attention should be declared persona non-grata in a strategic organ of the Federal Government such as the FIRS,” the union emphasized.According to the ASCSN, Section 4(1) of the Stamp Duty Act, vests the FIRS with sole authority to impose, charge and collect Stamp Duties upon instruments specified in the schedule of the Stamp Duties Act where such duties relate to matters between a company and an individual, group or body of individuals.“The relevant tax authority in a state, by Section 4(2) of the Stamp Duties Act is empowered to collect Stamp Duties on instruments executed by individuals at such rate as may be determined by the Act.“Previously, the FIRS collected Stamp Duties on instruments executed by an individual resident in the Federal Capital Territory.  However, this has ceased upon the creation of the FCT Internal Revenue Service,” the statement added.The ASCSN posited that what should become self-evident from the above was that all relevant legal instruments on Stamp Duties collection are vested on the Federal Inland Revenue Service.  It enjoined the management team and the staff of the Agency to keep up the good work and ensure that by the end of this year, revenue collected from Stamp Duties should be unparalled in the history of the organisation so far in order to continue to shame detractors.