Tax Reform Bills Didn’t Repeal Free Trade Zones Act – Adedeji

The Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacch Adelabu Adedeji, has said the Tax Reform Bills have no provision that repealed the Free Trade Zone Act.

Naija News reports that Adedeji said what the federal government found out was that businesses in the Free Trade Zones have failed to live up to expectations.

He stated this on Tuesday, on the second day of the two-day Senate public hearing on the Tax Reform Bills, organized by the Senate Committee on Finance, at Senate House, in Abuja.

Speaking, the FIRS Chairman explained that businesses in Free Trade Zones were supposed to export most of their products in line with the Acts establishing them. He noted that businesses in such zones sell all their products in the country and expect no taxation.

His words: “When they speak about free trade zone and what law is saying, nobody is repealing free trade zone acts. It is never proposed in the bill. And if you all listened to Senate President (Godswill Akpabio), yesterday (Monday), he gave one caveat that people should read the bill before they comment.

“The essence of free trade zone is to develop economic zones that is purely for exports. That is the essence. And why is it that we say there should not be tax, most especially local tax, when you are in free trade zone, it is because all what you produced are to be exported outside the country, to make you competitive. So don’t apply any local taxes on all these things. So when you produce, you can compete with China, with America, because you produce and we don’t have any.

“But our law also permits that sometimes you may have crisis in Customs area. You are allowed to sell up to 25% of what you produce to Nigeria without paying taxes. 

“But we discovered all of them, and I just don’t want to be confrontational, as advised by the chairman, they are only free trade zone by name. They produce and sell everything in Nigeria.”