Global Right tasks CSOs on regulatory compliance ahead of new tax regime
An international human rights organization, Global Rights has urged Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, in Akwa Ibom to equip themselves with the requisite financial documentation skills and taxation framework to fulfil their obligations to the relevant regulators.
The advocacy group warned its counterparts that its non compliance with some of the regulations required for its operations have made them lose credibility before government.
Edosa Oviawe, programs manager at the Global Rights in Nigeria, gave the charge on Tuesday, during a two day Regulatory Compliance training for members of the Community of Practice on Civic Space Strengthening in Akwa Ibom, which was implemented with support from the European Union Delegations to Nigeria and the ECOWAS.
Oviawe said CSO actors have been accused of non compliance to existing laws and regulations, noting that improper narration of their transactions could be the reason for the perceived non compliance which had led to subsequent penalties.
He regretted that some CSO actors who tried to keep records and document their transactions, do it the wrong way thereby making them have difficulties or violate the requirements of relevant regulators such as the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the states counterpart, Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, SCUML among others.
He said to address such issues especially as the new tax regime would come into effect by January, 2026, Global Right decided to train CSO actors on how to prepare themselves to comply with the requirement of the law.
His words, “Over time, there have been accusations and counter accusations that CSOs are not compliant with established laws or existing laws, or that CSOs don’t like regulation. But as a matter of fact, it’s not really because they don’t want to comply, it’s because they don’t even know how to go about it, thereby, making them lose credibility.
“Some of the NGOs that even comply or that keep their books are even using the wrong narration in their records. And that is why a lot of them are having issues with FIRS and the State’s Internal Revenue Service because of how they have categorized their expenditure or the money that comes in.
”What is or narrowly should not be taxed becomes taxable because of wrong narration. This will be very obvious when the new tax regime comes up by January and that is why we want to train them to avoid these mistakes.”
Speaking on Companies and Allied Matters, Professor Adedeji Adekunle (SAN) observed a lot of complaints by CSOs about the number of penalties for contraventions from the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, saying the training would give CAC the opportunity to advice NGOs on how to avoid some of these violations.
He advised the CSOs to engage Compliance officer who would provide compliance schedule and ensure they file tax returns when due and collect withholding tax for government even if they will not pay income tax.
His words, “Get a compliance officer who is able to provide your compliance schedule. As a civil society organization, you don’t pay tax, but you have to file tax returns. So, not paying tax does not mean you don’t have responsibility. You don’t pay income tax, but you have to pay, Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax. You also need to collect for government the “Withholding tax,” of the fees you pay the consultants. So these are the kinds of things as CSOs you should know so as not to have issues. Your narration is also very important.”
In his remarks, Tjah Bolton Akpan, the National Steering Committee member COP on Civic Space Strengthening, said CSOs and NGOs face a lot of compliance requirements and urged members not to be found wanting after the training even as they await the new tax regime.
Akpan said they had ensured that their members in the state participated in the training so as to have not just passionate organizations in their midst, but also ethical and legally compliant organizations.
“NGOs need to be on top of their game in terms of compliance with regulatory requirements. Registration, for instance, with CAC at the national level or with the necessary relevant state government agencies. You need to be filing your annual returns. In terms of tax compliance, you need to be compliant, you have employees, so you have to pay tax and so on. You also need to be compliant in terms of remittance or withholding tax.” He said.