ABUJA: The Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, on Thursday gave clarifications on the Nigerian government’s plan on diaspora taxes. Mrs. Adeosun made this clarification during a Facebook LIVE video chat tagged “Tax Thursday”. While responding to questions during the tax programme monitored by PREMIUM TIMES’ correspondent, Mrs. Adeosun explained that the new tax regime isn’t meant for all Nigerians living in the diaspora. “It is not (for) every Nigerian; it is for Nigerians resident for tax purposes…If you are a Nigerian resident for tax purposes, it means you live in Nigeria for 195 days of the year,” she said. “We’ve signed bilateral agreements with many countries, there is no double taxation. If you are paying your taxes in the UK, America or Canada, you are not affected by the scheme. “However, if you are collecting rents on properties – we found in our profile that a lot of properties are owned by Nigerians in the diaspora; they collect the rent and remit it to America or they keep it here but they don’t pat tax – those rents that you collect in Nigeria, to the extent that you didn’t declare them in the country you live in, you need to declare them under rent. So, in that regard, some of the diaspora (residents) are affected,” she said.
The minister explained further that Nigerians working and doing businesses abroad are exempted from the tax regime, adding that it is meant for Nigerian residents. “The vast majority of Nigerians who are just doing their jobs or running their businesses abroad; No, we are not taxing you. We are taxing Nigerian residents, many of whom also own properties abroad. So, I need to make that clarification,” she said. “There is no tax for people that live, work abroad. You are already paying your taxes there, we don’t have any issues with you. The people we are targeting are those who are Nigerian residents for tax purposes.
