Nigerians To Pay Tax On Internet Transactions From January 2020 – FIRS

Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Babatunde Fowler, has said that the agency will begin to impose value-added tax on Internet transactions both domestic and international with effect from January 2020.

Fowler, made the revelation on Monday at the African Tax Administration Forum in Abuja.

He said, “We have thrown it out to Nigerians. Effective from January 2020, we will ask banks to charge VAT on online transactions, both domestic and international.

“VAT remains the cash cow in most African countries, with an average VAT-to-total tax revenue rate of 31 per cent.

“This is higher than the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s average of 20 per cent.

“This statistics, therefore, is a validation of the need for us to streamline the administration of this tax with the full knowledge of its potential contributions to national budgets.

“It is, however, also bearing in mind the rights of our taxpayers.”