By Umar Muhammad Puma
The House of Representatives yesterday began consideration of a report on a bill seeking the establishment of the Federal Capital Territory Board of Internal Revenue Service (FCT-BIRS).
The bill which was sponsored by Chairman House of Representatives Committee on FCT, Rep Emmanuel Jime (APC, Benue), was put on hold to continue today.
The recommendations of the committee, approved the creation of an FCT Property Tax Agency, hitherto in the pipeline, and said it should be shelved “to avoid duplication of functions and reduce the cost of governance.”
Instead, the report recommended that the property tax department should be created in the internal revenue service.
It also recommended that the House should “consider and pass the bill for an Act to Establish the Federal Capital Territory Board of Internal Revenue and its management board.”
The committee’s recommendations on some clauses of the bill generally concurred that “the FCT should be considered as if it were one of the states of the federation in light of the provisions of sections 298, 299, 301 and 302 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
“The minister of FCT exercises delegated powers of the President under the Constitution. Therefore, FCT could approach the National Assembly to enact laws. In consonance with section 299, the FCT Board of Internal Revenue Service as an organ of government can collect taxes on behalf of FCT,” in tandem with the Second Schedule, part two, section four, item D of the constitution,” the report reads in part.
In addition to this, clause 22 (3) of the bill indicates that: based on the provisions of the constitution as stated above, the committee recommended a new clause 22 (3) to read thus: “notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 10 to First Schedule of the Federal Inland
Revenue Services (Establishment) Act 2007, the Federal Capital Territory Board of Internal Revenue Service shall control, administer and impose different taxes and levies within the Federal Capital Territory as provided in this bill.”
