FIRS seeks laws to harmonise tax collection, regulate cryptocurrency

Blessing Taiwo

In its efforts to restructure revenue collection in Nigeria, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has proposed an executive bill on tax and cryptocurrency regulation.

In the bill, the agency seeks to harmonise collection of revenue and upgrade of obsolete tax laws that suit the present economic situation.

The FIRS chairman, Zacch Adedeji made these known at a stakeholders’ engagement with a joint committee of the national assembly held in Lagos on Saturday.

Adedeji said the drafted bill intends to make tax laws easier to comprehend and ensure newness in the system.

The chairman noted that there is currently no law that regulates cryptocurrency operations in Nigeria, hence the introduction of the bill.

His words, “by the special grace of the Almighty God, we will bring a bill for a law to overhaul the whole process of revenue administration in Nigeria. Part of what we intend to achieve with this is to harmonise revenue collection, making tax laws very simple to understand and to be in tune with our current realities.

“For example, the Stamp Duty Act was made in 1939 when there was no internet connectivity or any of the features of modern society as we have it now. Even in 1939, states and local government councils had not been created.

“So, we need to bring that law up to date. This is one of the reasons President Bola Tinubu set up the Taiwo Oyedele-led fiscal policy and tax reform committee to look into all these laws and make recommendations.

“Today, we cannot run away from the cryptocurrency ecosystem because it is the in-thing.  But as it stands in Nigeria today, there is no law that regulates cryptocurrency operations. We need a law that regulates that area of our economy. This is why we are having this engagement with the legislators. We will regulate it in a way that is not injurious to the economic development of Nigeria.

“These are some of the things we are bringing together in an executive bill to overhaul revenue administration for the development of the country.”