Latest news with #RevenueService
BBC News
a day ago
- BBC News
Government warning over Revenue Service scam emails
The States of Guernsey has warned residents to be alert to scam emails after some were received claiming to be from the Revenue government said it was made aware of emails purporting to be from the Revenue Service over the said the emails were sent from or accounts and not from the Revenue Service's official email address. It advised people to check the address, not to open any links or attachments on the emails and to contact their bank's fraud team if they have already engaged with the sender.
France 24
6 days ago
- Business
- France 24
Nigeria's Tinubu signs major tax overhaul
The west African economic powerhouse has a tax-to-GDP ratio of 13.5 percent, according to government figures, which is below the continental average. The country, split among 36 states, has long struggled to reform its tax system -- with the government saying its new package will "harmonise" levies across the nation. "For too long, our tax system has been a patchwork—complex, inequitable, and burdensome," Tinubu said on social media ahead of the signing, promising relief for poor and working-class Nigerians. The president's earlier reforms -- slashing a costly fuel subsidy and liberalising the naira exchange rate -- have won the praise of economists, saying such measures were long overdue. But they've also sparked massive inflation and a cost of living crisis. The four laws -- the Nigeria Tax Law, Nigeria Tax Administration Law, Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Law, and Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Law -- are a "one-stop shop," simultaneously increasing revenue generation and reducing the tax burden on low-income earners, tax expert Chukwuema Eze told AFP. With the country experiencing one of its worst economic crises in decades, the new laws exempt low-revenue small businesses from paying company tax and reduce corporate tax to 25 percent from 30 percent. The new regime also streamlines tax collection and reorganises revenue-sharing between federal and state governments -- though without completely upending the system that sees poorer, mostly northern states benefit from money put into the national pot from the oil-rich south. Major tweaks to the revenue-sharing system were dropped as the bills wound their way through the legislature, after proving controversial in a country where north and south remain divided along both economic, religious and ethnic lines. One of the laws renames the country's tax office to Nigerian Revenue Service (NRS) and strengthens its revenue generation capacity, though the federal government's earnings from the value-added tax (VAT) will decline, with more money allocated to individual states. Easing business environment The government hopes the reforms will ease the cost of doing business for both domestic and foreign firms operating in the west African powerhouse, whose economy has dived from the largest in Africa to fourth place under Tinubu's reforms. However, some tax experts including Nongomin Joshua, of Nongomin & Co, Practitioners, said the reforms will mean little if the government, marred by decades of corruption, can't spend the money effectively. "The question is, how effective, efficient, and how prudent are they managing what they have been collecting with the current taxes?" said Nongomin Joshua, of Nongomin & Co, Practitioners, an accounting group. Economist Kelvin Emmanuel based in Abuja, the capital, said the new reforms would be key in raising the tax-to-GDP ratio, a struggle for many African countries where millions work in the informal sector. "It will also strengthen the fiscal administration of local governments around Nigeria, as the new framework seeks to create a comprehensive governance framework for local governments around autonomy," he told AFP. © 2025 AFP
Int'l Business Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Int'l Business Times
Nigeria's Tinubu Signs Major Tax Overhaul
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Thursday signed four landmark bills into law aiming to overhaul the country's tax system, after backing away from more controversial tweaks that would have upended revenue sharing among states. The west African economic powerhouse has a tax-to-GDP ratio of 13.5 percent, according to government figures, which is below the continental average. The country, split among 36 states, has long struggled to reform its tax system -- with the government saying its new package will "harmonise" levies across the nation. "For too long, our tax system has been a patchwork--complex, inequitable, and burdensome," Tinubu said on social media ahead of the signing, promising relief for poor and working-class Nigerians. The president's earlier reforms -- slashing a costly fuel subsidy and liberalising the naira exchange rate -- have won the praise of economists, saying such measures were long overdue. But they've also sparked massive inflation and a cost of living crisis. The four laws -- the Nigeria Tax Law, Nigeria Tax Administration Law, Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Law, and Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Law -- are a "one-stop shop," simultaneously increasing revenue generation and reducing the tax burden on low-income earners, tax expert Chukwuema Eze told AFP. With the country experiencing one of its worst economic crises in decades, the new laws exempt low-revenue small businesses from paying company tax and reduce corporate tax to 25 percent from 30 percent. The new regime also streamlines tax collection and reorganises revenue-sharing between federal and state governments -- though without completely upending the system that sees poorer, mostly northern states benefit from money put into the national pot from the oil-rich south. Major tweaks to the revenue-sharing system were dropped as the bills wound their way through the legislature, after proving controversial in a country where north and south remain divided along both economic, religious and ethnic lines. One of the laws renames the country's tax office to Nigerian Revenue Service (NRS) and strengthens its revenue generation capacity, though the federal government's earnings from the value-added tax (VAT) will decline, with more money allocated to individual states. The government hopes the reforms will ease the cost of doing business for both domestic and foreign firms operating in the west African powerhouse, whose economy has dived from the largest in Africa to fourth place under Tinubu's reforms. However, some tax experts including Nongomin Joshua, of Nongomin & Co, Practitioners, said the reforms will mean little if the government, marred by decades of corruption, can't spend the money effectively. "The question is, how effective, efficient, and how prudent are they managing what they have been collecting with the current taxes?" said Nongomin Joshua, of Nongomin & Co, Practitioners, an accounting group. Economist Kelvin Emmanuel based in Abuja, the capital, said the new reforms would be key in raising the tax-to-GDP ratio, a struggle for many African countries where millions work in the informal sector. "It will also strengthen the fiscal administration of local governments around Nigeria, as the new framework seeks to create a comprehensive governance framework for local governments around autonomy," he told AFP.
IOL News
20-06-2025
- Business
- IOL News
SA bleeds R3. 6 billion a year to fuel smuggling and tampering, says SARS
South Africa is losing around R3.6 billion every year because of illegal fuel Image: File South Africa is losing around R3.6 billion every year because of illegal fuel smuggling and tampering, according to the South African Revenue Service (SARS). According to the Revenue Service criminals are importing fuel without paying the correct taxes and mixing diesel with cheaper products like paraffin. "Over the past decade, countries along the Maputo Corridor (South Africa, Swaziland, and Mozambique) have become primary targets of the illicit fuel trade, which is driven by organised criminal networks that smuggle and illegally adulterate fuel," SARS said. "SARS has established that some importers declare fuel amounting to 40 000 litres or less, whereas investigation reveals that up to 60 000 litres of fuel are actually imported. This is called under-declaration, and documents are falsified to perpetuate this fraudulent activity," SARS also reported a national trend involving fuel storage and distribution depots in the illegal mixing of diesel with paraffin, a practice contributing heavily to revenue losses. "SARS has also detected a national trend where many of the fuel-storage and distribution depots are involved in the adulteration of all fuel products, especially through illegal mixing of diesel with paraffin. Fuel adulteration costs the fiscus approximately R3.6 billion per year according to statistics by the International Trade Administration Commission" Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ Sars added that government agencies are working together more closely to detect, prevent, and combat fuel adulteration and enforce the Customs and Excise Act. "The intelligence-driven joint-enforcement interventions included search-and-seizure operations targeting certain fuel-storage facilities and depots as well as random sampling of tanker transport to test the fuel viscosity and composition. In some cases, adulterated diesel analysed by in these investigations had up to 68% paraffin content" In a recent operation, SARS and SAPS targeted 23 sites in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, and KwaZulu-Natal and seized over 950,000 litres of contaminated diesel, shut down six illegal fuel depots, and confiscated assets worth R367 million. 'The criminal syndicates engaged in these brazen acts have become emboldened to act callously with no restraint in pursuit of their rapacious and criminal gains," SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter said. 'These syndicates can only underestimate our resolve to eradicate this criminality at their peril. These acts threaten the very foundation of our society. Our message is clear: we will spare no efforts to crush them'. IOL Business Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel
Bloomberg
02-04-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
South Africa's Tax Agency Takes Aim at Crypto Tax Defaulters
South Africa's revenue service urges those involved in crypto asset transactions to register with the authority, as it seeks to rein in tax defaulters. 'We've invited taxpayers, exchanges and other intermediaries to register, because now, if you don't register, you're breaking the law,' South African Revenue Service Commissioner Edward Kieswetter told Bloomberg in an interview on Tuesday. 'Once they have registered, we now have knowledge of their existence, and we can now begin to track their business activities.'
