Finance Bill Requires Tax ID for Bank Accounts
By Bashir Olanrewaju
The 2021 Finance Bill sent by President Muhammadu Buhari to lawmakers for approval Requires every bank account holder to have a tax identification number (TIN).
TIN will be a must have for new accounts while old account holders will be required to update their records with their tax identification, according to details revealed during its submission on Tuesday to lawmakers.
The bill also recommends electronic mail as the formal means of communication between the tax authorities and the tax payers.
Institutions that have obligations to deduct taxes will be penalized if they fail to do so, according to Yahaya Abdullahi, the Senate Leader for the ruling All Progressoves Congress.
“This penalty is 10 per cent of the tax not deducted, plus interest at the prevailing monetary policy rate of the Central Bank of Nigeria,” Abdullahi said.
The proposed law removes the requirement for taxing gratuities paid to workers for their years of service.
A new Finance Act has been passed annually in recent years ahead of a new budget implementation to streamline and harmonize the spending plans with existing laws