The Federal Government has apologised for Thursday’s “misleading tweets” directing account holders in the country’s financial institutions to register their details again.
The government tweeted on Friday, saying the completion of self-certification forms was not for everyone.
“We apologize for the misleading tweets (now deleted) that went up yesterday, regarding the completion of self-certification forms by Reportable Persons. The message contained in the @firsNigeria Notice does not apply to everybody. FIRS will issue appropriate clarification shortly,” the tweet read.
FIRS further clarified in a statement posted on Twitter, saying: “This is to notify the general public that all account holders in Financial Institutions (Banks, Insurance Companies, etc) are required to obtain, complete and submit Self–Certification Forms to their respective Financial Institutions.
“This is to clarify the publication for financial institutions account holders in Nigeria to complete the self certification form, pursuant to the Income Tax (Common Reporting Standard) Regulations 2019 which is for the fulfilment of Automatic Exchange of Information Requirements.
“The Self Certification form is basically to be administered on Reportable persons holding accounts in Financial institutions that are regarded as “Reportable Financial Institutions” under the CRS. Reportable persons are often non-residents and other persons who have residence for tax purposes in more than one jurisdiction or Country. Financial Institutions are expected to administer the Self Certification form on such account holders when information at its disposal indicates that the Account holder is a person resident for tax purpose in more than one jurisdiction. The information that indicates an account holder is a resident for tax purposes in more than one jurisdiction is expected to be available to Financial Institutions during account opening processes for the KYC and AML purpose.”
The announcement by the government had generated knocks from the public after account holders are obligated to have the bank verification number and the national identification number.
