March 28, 2024

4 thoughts on “Collection and Remittance of Statutory Charges on Receipts to Nigeria Postal Service Under the Stamp Duties Act

  1. The given provisions as stated above is fair enough “if and only if” they are strictly complied to, by the respective banking institutions who make these deductions.
    But on the contrary, I am a verifiable witness to the fact that most banks (especially my bank, GTB) do not comply to the clauses in the provision.

    For instance, I recently made a withdrawal from my Current Account using an ATM by the roadside, my bank, the GTB charged my a stamp duty fee.
    Similarly, I made a POS transaction, I was also charged. I made online payments, I was charged.

    I want to believe that since the transactions were done on a current account, hence the charges that accrued.
    However, I will still need clarification as to which account should be charged and on what method of transaction – online, POS, ATM terminals etc.

    Until I find answers to these questions, I would believe that most banks, especially GTB, which is my Bank, do not keep to the injunctions of the provisions.

  2. You seem to have proceeded on a premise of legal validity to much of the CBN circular even when your excerpts from the SDA seem to negate that premise. Where, for instance, did the CBN derive their N50.00K tax from? The law simply requires any adhesive stamp. And this could be in any denominated sum. When 2k stamps were available, those used to be the stamps of choice in receipts issued in the good ol’ days. But if NIPOST artificially makes lower denomination stamps unavailable, the stamp duty will effectively go up to the minimum denominated value available for sale. In other words, the Act expects the use of actual stamps on actual receipts, not some notional or arbitrary sum reflected otherwise than by an actual adhesive postage stamp. Special categories of stamp duties, of course, require impressed – not postage – stamps. Those ones are assessed ad valorem. You will see these sorts mostly on land instruments to be registered in various lands registries in the country…
    I was hoping for clarification on whether the law had been amended in support of the CBN position especially when we realise that imposition, as opposed to mere collection, of a tax in Nigeria is not only a legislative province [as opposed to an administrative or executive matter], it is exclusively a federal power. This last point has been slightly overlooked by the Supreme Court in Aberuagba but, in any case, is of little effect in this instance since the SDA is a federal legislation…
    Thanks all the same for raising the issue for discussion.

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