Only non-residents and other persons who have a residence for tax purposes in more than one jurisdiction or Country are expected to complete the Self-Certification Forms by Reportable Persons, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has said.
The FIRS attracted serious backlash from the public when it announced that “that all account holders in Financial Institutions (Banks, Insurance Companies, etc) are required to obtain, complete, and submit Self – Certification Forms to their respective Financial Institutions.”
Responding to the backlash, the FIRS through its twitter handle clarified that “the publication is for the fulfillment of Automatic Exchange of Information Requirements.”
The FIRS went on to state that “the Self Certification form is basically to be administered on Reportable persons holding accounts in Financial institutions that are regarded as “Reportable Financial Institutions” under the CRS.”
“Reportable persons are often non-residents and other persons who have a residence for tax purposes in more than one jurisdiction or Country.”
According to the FIRS ”financial Institutions are expected to administer the Self Certification form on such account holders when the information at its disposal indicates that the Account holder is a person resident for tax purpose in more than one jurisdiction.”
It explained that ”information that indicates an account holder is a resident for tax purposes in more than one jurisdiction, is expected to be available to Financial Institutions during the account opening processes for the KYC and AML purpose.”
This exercise the FIRS said, “is required for due diligence in line with requirements of Income Tax (Common Reporting Standards) Regulations 2019, and the ultimate objective of the Automatic Exchange of Information is to improve transparency in Nigeria’s tax system and boost the anti-corruption drive of the Government.”
“The Self-Certification Forms are to be administered by Financial Institutions to enable account holders to clearly document their respective jurisdictions of tax residence.”
The Nation