The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has said from September, there would be a law to take care of existing gaps in revenue collection, including providing a legal and regulatory framework for the operation of cryptocurrency.
Executive Chairman of the service, Dr. Zacch Adedeji, said the country can no longer run away from cryptocurrency, a form of digital currency exchange which is an alternative form of payment using encryption algorithm.
Amidst calls for the regulatory framework as the cryptocurrency business evolves, the FIRS boss said the service is working on latching unto that space to boost its revenue collection in its new law.
He spoke in Lagos during a stakeholders’ engagement with the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Finance organised by the Intergovernmental Relations Department.
The theme of the engagement was “Repositioning the FIRS to achieve its mandate.”
According to the Chairman, cryptocurrency has become a global payment system which Nigeria must embrace in a manner that would not be injurious to the economy of the country.
This is why he stated that the new law would be in place to capture crypto regulations and also address other gaps in the existing laws like the Stamp Duty which has become outdated.
He said, “The plan first is to have the law that regulates it and that is why we are here with the legislators which would be the base of charging as it’s done in other places in the world when you have this new innovation or system you just have to get ready for it. You can’t go away from it, you just have to plan to regulate it in such a way that it is not injurious to the economic development of Nigeria.”
He stated that for instance, the country is still using a Stamp Duty law of 1939 when there were no states or local governments.
“That is one reason why Mr. President set up the Tax and Fiscal Reform Committee to change and check all these laws. By God’s grace the new law will come by September and all those concerns will be addressed,” he added.