The Joint Committee on Finance has held an interactive session with the Minister of Finance Wale Edun and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Chairman Zacch Adedeji on the 2024 Finance (Amendment) bill which has recently scaled second reading.
This bill seeks to amend the Finance Act of 2023 to provide for the imposition of windfall tax, assessment and review of profits declarations, and deferred payment agreements for financial institutions by the Federal Inland Revenue Service.
Edun explained that the monies to be taken from the banks should not be considered as tax but levies, dismissing the view that the burden of the levies would be transferred implicitly to customers.
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The FIRS boss, however, disclosed that surcharging the banks for the sole aim of redistributing wealth has become almost imperative to balance the shortage recorded by other sectors owing to the policies.
He said this is most especially because the manufacturing sector has recorded a N1.7 trillion naira loss due to the forex policy and therefore would be impossible to tax them.
