The Association of Bureau De Change Operators (ABCON) has asked the federal government to make an exemption of excise taxes on foreign exchange transactions.
Excise duty is a tax charged on manufactured goods, levied at the time of manufacture.
ABCON President, Aminu Gwadabe, in a contribution at the House of Representatives’ Public Hearing on the Tax Reform Bill in Abuja, said excise tax on foreign exchange transactions would exacerbate exchange rate volatility in the market if applied to licensed bureaux.
Gwadabe who was represented by the Chairman of the North Central Zone, Thomas Okoye, urged lawmakers to exempt excise taxes on transactions by licensed and regulated BDCs to avoid over-generalisations, adding that the policy lacks clarity.
“The policy lacks clarity as the excise tax is on parallel market activities. It will be transferred to end users; it would worsen inflation as we depend highly on importation,” he said.
He also cautioned that excise tax on foreign exchange transactions would lead to unemployment.
Gwadabe also sought a review of the new Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) capital financial requirements of N500 million and N2 billion categories for BDC licensing.
