No Tax Identification Number (TIN), No Bank Account -New proposed Finance Bil

Finance bill makes TIN mandatory for all bank accounts
holders
The Finance Bill 2021 has made it mandatory for
commercial banks to demand the Tax Identification
Numbers from anyone who wishes to open an account
with them.
It also empowers banks to demand TIN from existing
customers if they wish to continue to operate their
accounts.
The Leader of the Senate, Yahaya Abdullahi, stated this on
Wednesday in his lead debate on the bill, sent to the
National Assembly by the President, Major General
Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Tuesday.
He said, “Banks will be required to request for Tax
Identification Number before opening bank accounts for
individuals, while existing account holders must provide
their TIN to continue operating their accounts.”
He also said the bill made electronic mails as the only
channel that tax authorities would accept as a formal
means of correspondence with taxpayers;
He added that proposed bill prescribes penalty for failure
to deduct tax.
He said it would also apply to agents appointed for tax
deduction.
Abdullahi said, “This penalty is 10 per cent of the tax not
deducted, plus interest at the prevailing monetary policy
rate of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“The conditions attached to tax exemption on gratuities
have been removed.
“Therefore gratuities are unconditionally tax exempt.
“The duties currently performed by the Joint Tax Board as
relates to administering the Personal Income Tax Act, will
now be performed by the Federal Inland Revenue service.
“This seems to be an error in the process of amendments
to replace the word “Board” as it appears in Federal Board
of Inland Revenue.”
He said penalty for Value Added Tax late filing of returns
increased to N50, 000 for the first month and N25, 000 for
subsequent months of failure;
He said, “The penalty for failure to register for VAT is
reviewed upwards to N 50,000 for the first month of
default and N25,000 for each subsequent month of
default.
“The penalty for failure to notify FIRS of change in
company address to be reviewed upwards to N50,000 for
the first month of default and N25,000 for each
subsequent month of default.
“This penalty also covers failure to notify FIRS of
permanent cessation of trade or business.
“Quite significantly, the Finance Bill seeks to introduce
sweeping changes to the tax laws covering seven different
tax laws.
“Many of the changes are expected to have positive
impacts on investments and ease of paying taxes
especially for MSMEs.
“Going forward, we hope that changes to the tax laws will
be on an annual basis to ensure that Nigeria’s tax system
continues to evolve in line with economic conditions”
On the Personal Income tax Act, the Senate Leader said
amendment clarified that pension contributions no longer
require the approval of the Joint Tax Board to be tax-
deductible;
He said, “On the other hand, the bill seeks to remove the
tax exemption on withdrawals from pension schemes
except the prescribed conditions are met.