The Federal Government has again reiterated it’s position on who is meant to bear the N50 cost of stamp duty that comes with payment of N1000 and above on Point Of Sales (POS) payments.
The N50 stamp duty which has been introduced by the federal government as means to shore up Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) has been solely borne by the customers who have been told they have to pay N50 extra on every N1,000 or more spent on POS transactions.
Now the government is saying that merchants have it all wrong and they (the merchants) not the customer ought to pay the extra N50.
According to Tolu Ogunlesi, the Special Assistant (SA) to President Muhammadu Buhari on New Media, it is illegal for merchants to pass the cost on to their customers.
“The FCCPC Nigeria, the country’s Competition and Consumer Protection Agency, on behalf of Nigerian Government: “It is inappropriate & illegal for businesses to pass a stamp duty cost of doing their business to consumers,” Ogunlesi shared on Twitter.
“FCCPC, in collaboration with CBN and others intends to enforce the law to its fullest extent and invites consumers to report violations. Merchants are not prohibited from penalising or otherwise assessing any duty, costs or assessment characterised as “stamp duty” on consumers who select Point Of Sale options to conclude their purchases or transactions,” shared Ogunlesi on Twitter.
The FCCPC on its part further released a press statement to clarify their stance on who is responsible for the duty fee. See the statement below.
