LawTalk Series

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

BREAKING NEWS: MINISTERIAL LIST

Know Your Ministers !

Here are the list of Ministers making up the new cabinet. Their names, State of Origin and Portfolio.

1) Dr. Uchechukwu Ogah – Abia, Mines and Steel Development, State

2) Muhammed Musa Bello – Adamawa, FCT

3) Sen. Godswill Obot Akpabio – Akwa Ibom, Niger Delta

4) Chris Ngige – Anambra, Labour & Employment

5) Sharon Ikeazor – Anambra, Environment, State

6) Adamu Adamu – Bauchi, Education

7) Amb Maryam Katagum – Bauchi, Industry, Trade and Investment, State

8) Timipre Silva – Bayelsa, Petroleum, State

9) Sen. George Akume – Benue, Special Duties

10) Mustapha Baba Shehuri – Borno, Agriculture, State

11) Godwin Jedi-Agba – Cross River, Power, State

12) Festus Keyamo – Delta, Niger Delta, State

13) Ogbonnaya Onu - Ebonyi, Science and Technology

14) Dr. Osagie Ehanire – Edo, Health

15) Clement Ikanade Agba – Edo, Budget and National Planning, State

16) Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo – Ekiti, Industry, Trade and Investment

17) Geoffrey Onyeama – Enugu, Foreign Affairs

18)Dr. Ali Isa Pantami – Gombe, Communication

19) Emeka Nwajuba - Imo, Education, State

20) Suleiman Adamu – Jigawa, Water Resources

21) Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed – Kaduna, Finance, Budget and National Planning

22) Dr. Mohammad Mahmoud – Kaduna, Environment

23) Mohammed Sabo Nanono – Kano, Agriculture

24) Maj. Gen. Bashir Magashi (rtd) - Kano, Defence

25) Hadi Sirika – Katsina, Aviation

26) Abubakar Malami – Kebbi, AGF and Minister of Justice

27) Ramatu Tijani Aliyu – Kogi, FCT, State

28) Lai Mohammed – Kwara, Information and Culture

29) Gbemisola Saraki – Kwara, Transportation, State

30) Babatunde Raji Fashola – Lagos, Works and Housing

31) Adeleke Mamora – Lagos, Health, State

32) Mohammed A. Abdullahi – Nasarawa, Science & Tech, State

33) Amb. Zubairu Dada – Niger, Foreign Affairs, State

34) Olamilekan Adegbite – Ogun, Mines & Steel Devpt

35) Sen. Omotayo Alasuadura - Ondo, Labour, State

36) Rauf Aregbesola – Osun, Interior

37) Sunday Dare – Oyo, Youth and Sports

38) Dame Pauline Tallen – Plateau, Women Affairs

39) Rotimi Amaechi –
Rivers, Transportation

40) Mohammed Maigari Dangyadi – Sokoto, Police Affairs

41) Engr. Sale Mamman – Taraba, Power

42) Abubakar D. Aliyu – Yobe, Works and Housing, State

43) Sadiya Umar Faruk – Zamfara, Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

CORPORATE PRACTICE: NEW CHANGES AT CAC

In line with the ease of doing business policy, CAC has made changes to the pre-incorporation and post-incorporation processes on its portal.

*PREINCORPORATION*

The changes to the pre-incorporation process on the new platform are:

1.Users will now have an option to check for conflicting names before making a name reservation to reduce the number of denied name reservations and the attendant costs.

2.Users will no longer be directed to the “Upload” segment of the website but will now be prompted to upload signed incorporation documents as soon as the payment of filing fees and stamp duties are made.

3.Certificates of Incorporation will now be printed by the accredited user.

4.The requirement for a valid Company email address is now mandatory as the Commission will communicate all future correspondences (including but not limited to the acknowledgment of post-incorporation filings) to the company via its registered email address.

*POST INCORPORATION*

The post-incorporation segment of the CAC’s portal will officially become operative on Monday, 19 August 2019. The procedure for making post-incorporation changes are as follows:

1.When a company is incorporated, the portal sends a notification to the company’s registered email prompting it to create online profiles of accredited users who it intends to engage for purposes of its post-incorporation filings.

2. The Company enters details of the users and their email addresses.

3. Once this is completed, the accredited user receives an email with login details, which grants them access to the portal to process post-incorporation filings on behalf of that Company.

Further, all CTC requests will now be made online and the CTCs printed by the user. All documents emanating from the Commission (Certificates of Incorporation and CTCs) will now bear an electronic certification stamp with a QR Code. The innovation of the QR Code enables any interested party with a smartphone to scan the code and confirm the authenticity of the document. Once scanned, the code will indicate if the document is genuine or not and display all the vital contents of the documents on a mobile device. (You can download a QR Scanner from your mobile playstore.)

Prior to the advent of the online post-incorporation filings, users have been able to make multiple changes per filing. For example, a company may by one Form CAC 7A appoint a Director, change the registered address of another and change the signature of yet another director. Under the current dispensation, the changes would be done separately and assessed individually so the Commission is not short-changed.

There has also been a slight change to the cost of obtaining CTCs of Annual Returns. Typically, a company pays N2,000 for CTC of the Annual Returns Form CAC 10, the Company’s Audited Accounts and CAC’s letter. Companies will now be required to pay N2,000 for each of these documents.

Please note however, that the post-incorporation filings will be limited to changes in Registered Address and filings of Annual Returns in respect of Business Names for now.

Culled from a Legal WhatsApp Group

Thursday, May 16, 2019

10 TIPS ON HOW TO INVEST IN REAL ESTATES

https://youtu.be/j6PbZHvepHY

Friday, December 28, 2018

HOW TO OBTAIN TAX IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (T.I.N)

Find out how to obtain Tax Identification Number (T.I.N) for your registered Business Name (s) and Companies.

NIGERIA TAX AT A GLANCE!

This is a comprised write-up on the Laws, Bodies and Types of Taxes in Nigeria, starting with the laws backing it up;

1.0 LAWS BACKING UP TAXATION IN NIGERIA

1. Personal Income Tax Act(amended), 2011(PITA)

2. Companies Income Tax Act, 1990 (CITA)

3. Personal Income Tax Decree,1993 (PITD)

4. Taxes and Levies (approved list for collection), Decree (TLD)

2.0 TAX BODIES IN NIGERIA:

2.1 JOINT TAX BOARD(JTB)

The PITA gave birth to the Joint Tax Board (JTB), which is the apex or highest body in Nigeria, saddled with the sole responsibility of managing, administering, controlling and collecting tax.

2.2 FEDERAL INLAND REVENUE SERVICE (FIRS)

The CITA gave birth to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), that is responsible for the collection of tax at the Federal level. In other words mostly Corporate bodies and Organisations duly registers with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) pay tax to the FIRS.

2.3 STATE BOARD FOR INTERNAL REVENUE

The PITD empowers each state in Nigeria to set up it’s own state board for the sole purpose of collecting taxes at the state level. Thus, every State in Nigeria has it’s own board for tax collection. For instance Lagos state tax board is popularly known has Lagos Internal Revenue Service (LIRS).

2.4 LOCAL GOVERNMENT TAX UNIT

The PITD also empowers each local government in each state to collect different taxes and levies from their locality.

3.0 TYPES OF TAXES COLLECTED AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL BY FIRS

(i) Companies Income Tax.

(ii) Custom and Excise Duties.

(iii) Value Added Tax.

(iv) Education Tax

(v) Personal Income Tax in respect of:-

(1) Armed Forces, Police, etc.

(2) Non resident individuals and companies.

(3) Staff of Nigeria Foreign Service.

(4) Individuals resident in the Federal capital Territory.

4.0 TAXES COLLECTED AT THE STATE LEVEL

(i) Personal Income Tax. (1. Pay As You Earn-PAYE, 2. Self-Assessment)

(ii) Stamp Duties (on documents executed by individuals)

(ii) Road Taxes

(iii) Pools betting and lotteries.

(iv) Business premises registration

(v) Development Levy.

(vi) Naming of street registration in state capitals

(vii) Right of occupancy on land owned by state

(viii) Market taxes on state financed taxes.

5.0 TAXES COLLECTED AT LOCAL LEVEL

(i) Shops and Kiosks rates.

(ii) Tenement rates.

(iii) On and off liquor license fee.

(iv) Slaughter slab fees

(v) Marriage, Birth and death Registration Fees (Rural Areas).

(vi) Right of Occupancy on land in rural areas.

(vii) Market Taxes and Levies.

(viii) Motor Park Levies

(ix) Domestic Annual License Fees.

(x) Bicycle, Truck, Canoe, Wheelbarrow, and Cart Fees.

(xi) Cattle tax payable by cattle farmers only.

(xii) Merriment and Road Closure Levy.

(xiii) Radio and Television License Fees (other than radio and television

transmitter)

(xiv) Vehicle Radio License (Local Government Registration of the vehicle).

(xv) Wrong Parking Charges

(xvi) Public Convenience and Refuse Disposal, Customary burial ground permit

fees.

(xvii) Religious Place Establishments Permit Fees

(xviii) Signboard and Advertisement Permit Fees

In totality, we have a minimum of 40 types of taxes being collected and paid in Nigeria.

9 at the Federal level

11 at the State level and

20 at the Local level.

Also, note that these taxes are being subdivided into several groups e.g. the Personal Income Tax being paid and collected in Lagos State is subdivided into ( P.A.Y.E paid by employees and Self Assessment paid by Business persons).

Whether or not these taxes are outrageously collected or an average man is being multi taxed daily is another discussion for another. Hitherto, the bottom line is, as long as you have a means of livelihood whether as a petty trader, small or big scale business person, an employee, employer or all of the above you are obliged under the law to pay your tax to the government.

It is your civic duty, it is the law.

Always remember, that ‘your rights start where your duties stop’