The Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji, announced plans to seek the National Assembly’s support for enacting a law governing the cryptocurrency industry.
Adedeji made this statement on Saturday during a stakeholder engagement with the Senate and House Committee on Finance, organized by the Service’s Intergovernmental Relations Department under the theme, ‘Repositioning The FIRS To Achieve Its Mandate.’
He said, “The plan first is to have the law that regulates it, and that is why you see that we are here with the legislature, which will be the base of charging. And that is done in any other place in the world when you have this innovation or system, so you just have to get ready for it because you can’t go away from it. So we just have to plan to regulate it in such a way that it is not injurious to the economic development of Nigeria.”
During his opening speech, Adedeji informed the lawmakers about the proposed bill.
He told them, “Just to put you on notice, by September, we are proposing a law that would overhaul the whole process of revenue administration in Nigeria, harmonizing, recoding, and simplifying the tax laws that we have. For example, in the Stamp Duty Act of 1939, when there was no internet connection, we needed to bring it up.
“Today, we cannot run away from cryptocurrency but as we stand today, there is no law anywhere in Nigeria that regulates cryptocurrency. We cannot run away from it.”
Cryptocurrency platforms have faced heightened scrutiny, particularly after Binance’s exit, following accusations from the Nigerian government of manipulating the naira-to-dollar exchange rate.
Recently, Nigeria introduced a 7.5 percent Value-Added Tax (VAT) on crypto transaction fees. This was disclosed by the cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin, which informed its users that VAT collection would commence on July 8, 2024.
In a significant move at the end of 2023, the Central Bank of Nigeria lifted its ban on banks operating accounts for crypto service providers, marking a shift towards a more open yet regulated approach— a change that was widely welcomed by the local crypto community.
