Economy

Windfall tax: FG insists on sanctions for defaulting bank chiefs

Published

5 months ago

July 23, 2024

Admin

The Federal Government has reiterated that the principal officers of banks who refuse to comply with the law on the windfall tax on banks’ foreign exchange profits will be sanctioned.

The government’s position was reiterated on Monday at the National Assembly when the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, and the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Zack Adediji, met with the finance committees of both chambers on the Amendment of the Finance Bill, 2024.

Last week Wednesday, the Senate gave expeditious passage to President Bola Tinubu’s request to amend the Finance Act to impose a one-time windfall tax on banks’ foreign exchange profits in 2023.

A windfall tax is a higher tax levied by the government on sectors or businesses that have disproportionately benefited from favourable market conditions.

The President said the money would be part of the revenue used to fund the additional N6.2tn added to the 2024 budget.

The bill which has passed the second reading states, “The Federal Inland Revenue shall assess the realised profits, collect, account, and enforce payment of levy payable under section 30 in accordance with the powers of the Service under the Federal Inland Revenue Service (Establishment) Act 2007; and in the exercise of its functions in 32(a) above, may enter into a deferred payment agreement with the assessed banks, provided that such deferred payment agreement is executed on or before December 31, 2024.

“Any bank that fails to pay the windfall profit levy to the service and has not executed a deferred payment agreement before December 31, 2024, commits an offence and shall, upon conviction, be liable to pay the windfall profit levy withheld or not remitted in addition to a penalty of 10 per cent of the levy withheld or not remitted per annum and interest at the prevailing Central Bank of Nigeria minimum rediscount rate and imprisonment of its principal officers for a period of not more than three years.

“Financial year means either the year commencing from January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023, or any period within the financial year not aligned with the calendar year comprising twelve calendar months of the bank’s financial activity,” it added.

Speaking at the meeting, Edun said, the “bank windfall” profit levy, though small still constituted an important contribution to government finances at a time when revenues had substantially increased despite minimising taxes.

In his explanation, the FIRS chairman explained that the windfall tax was not a new tax imposed on banks.

Adedeji said, “These are the gains that you have without any contribution from you, without any value addition. They result from the effect of an adverse activity on others. And who are these others? If you look at the report of all manufacturing entities in the last one and a half years, you will discover that a lot of registered companies recorded huge losses from exchange transactions.

“Anywhere in the world, your duty as the government is to redistribute the wealth to sustain the progress and prosperity of the nation.

“So the loss suffered by manufacturing, as a result of these foreign gains, which is being recorded in the bank is what the government seeks to redistribute. And that is why we have this levy.

“So we seek your permission and your understanding in balancing this economic inequality that has occasioned due to the circumstances that we find ourselves.”

Speaking on the sharing formula, the FIRS chairman proposed that it be distributed 50/50 between banks and the government.

He said, “These gains that are realised, the levy proposal today is 50 (per cent) for the bank and 50 (per cent) for the government.”

Raising the issue of penalty as stated in the bill, Senator Isah Jibrin ( APC, Kogi East), asked that the bill be more explicit.

He said, “My area of worry is concerning the penalty, we need to be very explicit on it.

“On the issue of penalty, here it is stated, 10 per cent of the tax withheld or not remitted per annum and interest at the prevailing Central Bank of Nigeria MRR. So what are we going to do? 10 per cent is like coming from nowhere, so I would suggest that we align the MRR.”

“Then at what point does the issue of imprisonment of the officials come in? At what point do we now say, okay, enough is enough and the officials should be arrested after default, is it after a month, a year, two years, or three years.”

Responding to this, Edun said it was unlikely that banks would defy the government, but noted there were penalties for those who defaulted.

The finance minister said, “To be fair to the banks there is no reason to assume that’s what they trying to do. Let us give the benefit of the doubt to one another.

“Well there has to be, there has to be something that will serve as a deterrent. The penalties have to be there. And at the end of the day, tax evasion is a criminal offence.

“For underreporting of profits by the bank, we have enough technical ability to look at what the bank’s audited accounts say and track the level of foreign exchange and the profits therefrom.”

Adedeji also allayed fears regarding possible cases of underreporting.

He noted that the CBN in a memo in September 2023 and March this year had directed commercial banks in the country not to touch or spend the profits they made from foreign exchange transactions.

Economy

Petrol to sell at N935 per litre from today-IPMAN

Published

3 days ago

December 23, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), says the price of petrol will drop to N935 per litre by Monday in view of Dangote Refinery’s new arrangement.

IPMAN said the new price was necessitated by the reduction in Dangote Refinery’s fuel ex-depot price and uniform arrangement, which would enable marketers to sell at N935 in their outlets nationwide.

Alhaji Maigandi Garima, IPMAN National President, who made this known on Sunday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, lauded the Dangote refinery for the development.

NAN reports that Dangote refinery recently announced a significant reduction in fuel price by 7.27 per cent from N970 per litre to N899.50 per litre at its loading gantry and provided generous credit terms to marketers.

In the bid to ensure that the price reduction gets to the end consumers, it signed a partnership with MRS to sell petrol from its retail outlets nationwide at N935.

The price reduction which is designed by Dangote refinery to alleviate transport cost during the festive period and beyond, has already commenced in Lagos, and will be offered nationwide from Monday.

“Dangote refinery has brought another new arrangement of loading and pricing by which marketers would pay a fixed ex-depot price of N899. 50k.

“The refinery is running a programme whereby it wants the fuel consumption across the country to be at the same rate. We are expecting the new arrangement to kick-start on Monday.

“We have been loading from the Dangote refinery and the refinery is saving us in this festive period,’’ he said.

The IPMAN president said previously it was loading at N970 per litre at Dangote refinery, but based on the arrangement and promise from Dangote, by Monday fuel price will drop to N935.

Garima said the downstream sector competition being witnessed currently was expected by marketers since due to deregulation, adding that it would see the price of fuel dropping continuously.

“That is the reason why we have been asking the government to allow private sectors to participate in the refinery business.

“Very soon more refineries are coming up and the country will see a lot of price reduction in the downstream sector,’’ he said.

He recalled that during the 2023 yuletide, per litre of fuel was sold at N2, 000 in the Northern and Eastern part of the country because fuel was being imported at that period.

He added that the highest price of which fuel could be sold there currently is N1, 100 because refineries are running in the country.

“By the time Warri and Kaduna resume production, one can buy products at cheaper rates and it is good for the economy,’’ he added.

He however commended the Naira for the crude swap deal, adding that it is a good development for the growth of the economy.

The NNPC Ltd. had also slashed fuel ex-depot price from N1, 020 to N899.

The fuel price reduction reflects response to deregulation and increased industry competition.

(NAN)

Economy

SEC orders public companies to publish financial statements online by Jan 2025

Published

6 days ago

December 20, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a new directive requiring all publicly listed companies in Nigeria to publish their financial statements on their official websites, effective January 2025.

This was disclosed in a circular issued by the Commission on Thursday, stressing the importance of the move for investor confidence and regulatory compliance.

The SEC warned that non-compliance with this directive would attract strict sanctions, demonstrating its commitment to improving transparency and accessibility in the Nigerian equities market.

According to the SEC, “The Securities and Exchange Commission (‘the Commission’) has observed that public companies file their periodic returns with the Commission and relevant securities exchanges without simultaneously publishing the same on their websites. This omission contravenes Rules 39 and 41 of the Commission’s Rules and Regulations.”

The Commission noted that while publicly listed companies routinely file periodic returns with it and relevant securities exchanges, many fail to make these financial statements accessible to the investing public on their websites. This practice, it noted, violates the requirement to ensure that financial disclosures are readily available to guide investors in making informed decisions.

SEC explained the rationale for the directive, stating that publishing financial statements online provides seamless access for the investing public. This ease of access, the Commission said, is essential for encouraging sound investment decisions and ensuring investor confidence in the market.

“Timely disclosures remain a key component of shareholder engagement,” the Commission stated. “The publication of periodic returns on their websites is aimed at providing seamless access by the public to such information, which would serve as a guide to making sound investment decisions.”

The Commission further noted that effective from January 2025, any public company that fails to simultaneously file its periodic returns with the SEC and relevant securities exchanges and publish them on its website will face penalties.

Economy

Dangote Refinery, NNPCL resume fight over $1bn loan

Published

7 days ago

December 19, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Dangote Group, owners of Dangote Refinery, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, have clashed over a $1 billion crude oil-backed loan.

Recall that barely 24 hours ago, in a statement credited to NNPCL spokesperson Olufemi Soneye, the state-owned oil firm said it secured a $1 billion loan backed by crude to support the Dangote Refinery during liquidity challenges.

However, Dangote Group spokesperson, Anthony Chijiena, has described NNPCL’s claim as ‘misinformation’.

The company clarified that the $1 billion crude backed loan is about five percent of the total investment that went into building the 650,000 barrels per day refinery.

According to him, it is inaccurate to say NNPCL facilitated $1 billion for Dangote Refinery amid liquidity challenges.

Chijiena explained that NNPCL had proposed a 20 percent stake investment valued at $2.76 billion in the Dangote Refinery, but that didn’t materialise.

He noted that NNPCL was able to invest $1 billion, which amounts to 7.24 percent equity value.

“Our decision to enter into a partnership with NNPCL was based on recognition of their strategic position in the industry as the largest offtaker of Nigerian crude and, at the time, the sole supplier of gasoline into Nigeria.

“We agreed on the sale of a 20 percent stake at a value of $2.76 billion. Of this, we agreed that they will only pay $1 billion while the balance will be recovered over a period of 5 years through deductions on crude oil that they supply to us and from dividends due to them.

“If we were struggling with liquidity challenges, we wouldn’t have given them such generous payment terms.

“As of 2021, when the agreement was signed, the refinery was at the pre-commission stage. In addition, if we were struggling with liquidity issues, this agreement would have been cash-based rather than credit-driven.

“Unfortunately, NNPCL was later unable to supply the agreed 300 thousand barrels a day of crude, given that they had committed a greater part of their crude cargoes to financiers with the expectation of higher production, which they were unable to achieve.

“We subsequently gave them a 12-month period for them to pay cash for the balance of their equity given their
inability to supply the agreed crude oil volume.

“NNPCL failed to meet this deadline, which expired on June 30th, 2024. As a result, their equity share was revised down to 7.24 percent. These events have been widely reported by both parties.

“It is, therefore, inaccurate to claim that NNPCL facilitated a $1 billion investment amid liquidity challenges.

“Like all business partners, NNPCL invested $1 billion in the refinery to acquire an ownership stake of 7.24 percent. That is beneficial to its interests,” the Dangote Group statement said.