To resolve the conflict between the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigeria Postal Service, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has began collecting electronic stamp duty (NIPOST).
Kayode Alakija, president-General of the Senior Staff Organisation of Statutory Corporations and Government-Owned Companies (SSASCGOC), said in Abuja that the association, which is a TUC affiliate, could not stand by while NIPOST, one of SSASCGOC’s branches, was stripped of its power.
FIRS and NIPOST were involved in a legal battle over the collection of the N50 stamp tax, which was eventually settled in court.
While both sides await stakeholder participation and the court’s ultimate ruling, the apex bank has taken over electronic collection, while NIPOST has taken over adhesive manufacture.
“The problem of stamp duty was genuinely resolved,” Alakija remarked. If you remember correctly, there was a time when they passed the Finance Act, which delegated stamp duty to another body.
“They have given NIPOST exclusive rights to make the adhesive portion of the stamp.” For the time being, the electronic portion has been delegated to the CBN.”
