By Daniel Tyokua
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has called on Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), banks with corporate bodies and individuals to comply with revenue generating laws in the territory.
He ordered strict implementation of the Personal Income Tax and the FCT Internal Revenue Service Acts 2015, with a view to improving the revenue.
The Minister said the decision was in line with section 85 of the Personal Income Tax Act (PITA) and Section 31 of the FCT Internal Revenue Service Act 2015.
He said both sections provide for demand and verification of Tax Clearance Certificates (TCC), by Federal Government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, Commercial Banks, and FCT Secretariats, Departments and Agencies before any transactions is allowed.
Penalties ranging from N1000,000.00 fine to three years jail term as provided in the Acts await defaulters as the new revenue generation exercise takes off.
The Mandate Secretary, FCT Economic Planning, Revenue Generation, and Public Private Secretariat, Chinedum Elechi, disclosed this at a press conference in Abuja on Monday.
He disclosed that Wike “has approved the implementation of Section 85 of Personal Income Tax Act (PITA) and Section 31 of the FCT Internal Revenue Service Act, 2015.”
Elechi warned that per Section 85 of the PITA, anyone who provided false information or obtained a TCC through forgery or falsification, was liable to a fine of N50,000 (Fifty Thousand Naira) or a three year jail term or both upon conviction.
He added that a government entity or organization who failed to verify a TCC was liable to a fine of N5,000,000 or a three year, jail term or both, upon conviction.
The Secretary also explained that Section 31 of the FCT-IRS Act provided that all SDAs, corporate bodies, or any person empowered by law, shall demand a TCC from any person or enterprises for the last three years “preceding the current year of assessment as a precondition for transacting any business in the FCT”.
He listed the transactions to include Certificate of Ocupancy, award of contracts, approval of building plans, application for FCTA loan for housing, business or any other purpose, registration of motor vehicles, among others.
