Evidence of tax
payment will be a condition for operating a bank account from January,
according to the Financial bill passed by the National Assembly.
The Bill, submitted to
the lawmakers with Budget 2020 by President Muhammadu Buhari, is designed to
improve financial operations of the country and streamline the tax regime.
It is expected to be
signed with the budget before end of the month, to actualize the return to the
January – December budget cycle.
According to a section
of the Bill, banks will require anybody opening an account to provide his Tax
Identification Number (TIN).
Those who already have
accounts with banks will also be required to provide their TIN.
There are 30 million
Bank Verification Numbers (BVN)-linked accounts.
The intention is to
make sure that more people are captured into the tax net.
According to the Joint
Tax Board, the tax identification number (TIN) is a unique identifier for an
individual or a company for tax remittance.
