In an attempt to lessen the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on taxpayers, the Federal and State Internal Revenue Services have introduced emergency tax measures such as tax rebates, tax deductibility, deferral of tax payment and filing obligations.
The House of Representatives passed the “Emergency Economic Stimulus Bill 2020” (“the Bill”) which provides that employers (with the exception of oil companies) who retain the same employees from 1 March 2020 till the 31 December 2020 will enjoy a 50%-income tax rebate on the total PAYE amount due or paid. The Bill also suspends the payment of import duty on medical equipment, medicines, personal protective equipment and other medical necessities required for the treatment and management of COVID-19 in Nigeria.
In this article, ǼLEX examines these emergency tax measures as well as the reliefs in the Emergency Economic Stimulus Bill 2020.
ǼLEX is a full service commercial and dispute resolution firm with its head office in Lagos, Nigeria and other offices in Port Harcourt and Abuja in Nigeria, and in Accra, Ghana. The Firm’s expertise covers legal, regulatory and policy issues as well as commercial, fiscal and environmental matters. In addition to qualifying in law, lawyers in the Firm have qualifications in disciplines such as political science, economics and engineering.
