If you practice taxation for a fee, note that you must comply with FIRS’s new standard to remain in the field. Right now, the Federal Inland Revenue Service requests that all tax practitioners must get a license from the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria.
FIRS, CITN, ICAN, and ANAN held a meeting
On May 30, 2022, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), and the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) held a meeting on standardizing tax buy filing practices in the country. The meeting was held at the FIRS revenue house in Abuja.
In a press release dated July 27, 2022, on the FIRS board’s Twitter account. And with regards to the meetings held, the FIRS pinpointed that tax practitioners filing tax returns for a fee are expected to have a license from CITN.
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What is FIRS telling tax practitioners in Nigeria?
If you are a tax practitioner and you do so for a fee, then you must get a license from CITN. If you don’t have it on or before October, the FIRS will not accept the tax filed. Upon earning a license, the CITN will issue a stamp or seal that can be used to stamp or seal the tax filing documents sent to the board.
The press statement also stresses that from March 31, 2023, it will publish the list of licensed tax practitioners. But there are provisions for taxpayers that don’t outsource their tax filing. In this case, the taxpayer does the tax return computation through its employee or by itself. Therefore, FIRS will accept the tax return computed as self-filing tax returns.
But that’s not all!
According to the press statement, the Federal Inland Revenue Service will not accept audited annual financial statements that are not stamped or sealed with a customized stamp or seal from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria or the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria.
What does this mean to tax practitioners and taxpayers
If you practice tax accounting and you do not have a CITN license, it means there is little you can do with the filing of taxes for your clients starting from 1st October this year. Therefore, you should either be an affiliate to an individual with a CITN license. So that you can use their seal or stamp, or get one from the tax professional body.
For businesses (taxpayers) who outsource their tax return computation, they may need to employ an accountant or use only accredited tax practitioners that will be published by the Federal Inland Revenue Service starting March 31st every year.