A new bill had been proposed in Nigeria, requiring individuals involved in banking, insurance, stockbroking, or other financial services to have provided a Tax Identification Number (TIN) as a precondition for opening a new account or operating an existing one.
The bill, titled “A Bill for an Act to Provide for the Assessment, Collection of, and Accounting for Revenue Accruing to the Federation, Federal, States, and Local Governments; Prescribe the Powers and Functions of Tax Authorities, and for Related Matters,” had aimed to enhance tax compliance and improve the country’s revenue collection process.
According to the bill, which had been obtained from the National Assembly on October 4, 2024, it had stated, “A person engaged in banking, insurance, stockbroking, or other financial services in Nigeria shall have made the provision of a tax ID a precondition for opening a new account or operating an existing account.”
This requirement had been part of broader efforts to ensure that all individuals and entities participating in financial activities had been properly registered for tax purposes.
The bill had also outlined that any non-resident person supplying taxable goods or services to individuals in Nigeria or earning income from the country had to have registered for tax purposes and obtained a TIN.
However, non-resident individuals who had derived only passive income from investments in Nigeria had been exempt from the requirement, though they had still been required to provide relevant information as prescribed by the tax authorities.
The proposed legislation had further empowered tax authorities to have automatically registered and issued a TIN to individuals who should have applied for one but had failed to do so.
