The Chartered Institute of Nigeria (CITN) said, the Federal Government (FG) has collected N127.04 billion as revenue from stamp duty between January 2015 and July 2020.
It said, stamp Duty is an excellent source of revenue to both the Federal Government and state governments.
“The whole world is presently affected by the Covid-19 pandemic which has obliterated the economy of many nations globally; Nigeria inclusive. There is therefore a need for Nigeria to look inward for ways of funding its huge budget and reduce its yearly challenge of budget deficit through increased tax revenue generation”, said the CITN.
The institute said, overhauling stamp duties administration is a veritable tool for achieving this purpose in line with the current National Tax Policy direction which is tailored towards increasing indirect taxes such as Value Added Tax (VAT) and Stamp Duties (SD) while at the same time reducing direct taxes such as Company Income-tax (CIT), Education Tax, Capital Gain Tax (CGT), among others.
The body thus urged the Joint Tax Board should intensify efforts in creating public awareness on instruments that are required by law to be stamped and relevant fees payable.
“The Stamp Duties Act should be reviewed, re-organized, re-defined, simplified and should also state the extent and limit of the Commissioner’s powers, harmonize the list of instruments and increase the rates applicable to reflect current economic realities and the policy direction of the Government concerning job creation in order to encourage investment”, it said.
In a document made available by Proshare, a group of analysts, special division of Federal or State High Courts should be assigned to handle stamp duties related matters where stamp duties offenders will be prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to others who might want to carry out such an act.
