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NIPC: 29 firms file for tax holiday

…as beneficiaries drop to 32

Twenty-nine firms from different sectors of the economy have filed fresh applications to the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) for tax holiday. The Commission disclosed this in its Q4’20 Pioneer Incentive Status report just released. A pioneer status incentive grants companies making investments in qualifying industries and products a tax holiday of three years from the payment of company income tax.

The three-year tax holiday has the possibility of an extension for one or two additional years to enablee the industry concerned to make a reasonable level of profit within its formative years. According to the NIPC report, the companies that applied for the incentive in the Q4’20 include FBB Rice Mills Limited; Kings Flour Mill Limited; PowerGen Nigeria Assets Limited; Nest OGB Limited; Sabon Gari Energy Solutions Limited; Comterm Nigeria Limited; Duka Automotive Limited; and MB Construction Chemicals Solutions Nigeria Limited. Others are Hulhulde Rice Limited; Sifax Shipping ICT Limited; Nalis Pharmaceutical Limited; Funtierra Limited; Jof Nigeria Limited; Century Mining Company Limited; NEXA Metal Recycle Company Limited; Huxley Industries Limited; Breeze Industries Limited; First Patriot Limited; Premium Agro Chemicals Limited; Premier Polypack Limited; Mikano International Limited; DMU Industries Limited; Prudent Energy and Services Limited; Ikpobia Cement Com-pany Limited; Guyuk Cement Company Limited; Wamakko Cement Company Limited; Etsako Cement Company Limited; Gidan Bailu Cement Company; and Sultana Golden Rice Limited. The Commission, however, disclosed that none of the new applicants have been granted approval as they are yet to make presentations to the investment agency. Aside from the new applicants, the commission said one company had also filed for an extension of their tax holiday within the period under review. In total, 122 applications for tax holidays are said to be pending as of December end. Within the period, NIPC said it granted PSI requests to five companies.

These include Kunoch Hotels Limited; Amarava Agro Processors Limited; Maindata Nigeria Limited; Masters Liquefied Gas Limited; and Elvis Gar-den Hotels Limited. The Commission disclosed that three other companies, which had earlier applied for the tax relief had abandoned their application. According to NIPC, their applications were classified as abandoned during the quarter as the commission had not received any response in over nine months to requests for additional information.

NIPC, in the report, stated that the number of companies benefitting from the tax incentive stood at 32, a decrease from 37 recorded in Q3’20. The Commission said the 32 companies currently benefitting from tax exemption have invested over N1 trillion in the economy while the total figure of their employed staff stood at 6,053. Some of the companies with massive investments include ATC Nigeria Limited, a telecom in-frastructure company, which is said to have invested N260.3 billion and employed 197 people; Jabi Mall Development Company Limited with N123.7 billion investment and 170 employed staff. Others are Unicane Industries Limited with N31 billion investment and 32 employees; Owerri Mall Development Company Limited, which has invested N16.2 billion and provided employment for 206 people; and Asaba Mall Development Company Limited with N13.4 billion investment and 200 employees, among others. Meanwhile, the Federal Government had in March this year inaugurated a joint committee of staff of the NIPC and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on Pioneer Status Incentive (PSI). The committee was set up to review the current guidelines for administration of the PSI, validate the cost of the incentive to Nigeria, and recommend changes to the qualification and administration.

Commenting on the move, NIPC’s Executive Secretary/ CEO, Ms. Yewande Sadiku, stated that the commission understood the responsibility it shoulders in relation to administering the PSI and exercises great diligence in processing applications. On his part, the Executive Chairman, FIRS, Mr. Muhammad Nami, encouraged members of the committee to invest their energy into the exercise as it is a means to assist the government to achieve an enabling business environment, bearing in mind the responsibility of the government to fund budgetary needs. In 2015, the Federal Government had placed an administrative suspension on the processing and issuance of PSI.

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