- The ministers are to explain why the proposed expatriates taxation regime should not be halted on January 16.
A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Minister of Interior, and Lateef Fagbemi, Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), to appear in court regarding the Expatriates Employment Levy (EEL).
Inyang Ekwo, the presiding judge, made this ruling on Thursday after Patrick Peter, counsel for the plaintiff, moved a motion ex-parte.
Ekwo ordered the minister and AGF to be served with the motion within three days of the order.
The suit, filed by the Incorporated Trustees of New Kosol Welfare Initiative, seeks an interim injunction to stop the implementation of the new expatriates’ taxation regime in Nigeria.
Raphael Ezeh, Programme Implementation Coordinator, stated that the EEL taxation policy was announced on February 27, 2024.
“According to KPMG and other online information analysts and dissemination agencies, the federal government intends to compel all companies and organisations who engage the services of foreign expatriates to pay tax E.E.L. as follows: For every expatriate on the level of a director — Fifteen Thousand United States Dollars ($15,000.00) equivalent to Twenty-Three Million Naira, by the current exchange rates (NW23,000,000.00) per annum,” he said.
Ezeh explained that the federal government proposed additional regulations, including penalties and sanctions for non-compliance.
According to him, inaccurate reporting will result in five years imprisonment and/or N1 million.
Failure to file EEL within 30 days attracts a N3 million penalty.
Ezeh stated, “The proposed taxation regime is totally an anti-people policy because of its radical effect on different aspects of the Nigerian economy and it works like a choke-hold against the economic growth of the nation.”
He noted that taxation requires collaboration between the executive and legislative arms of government under the 1999 Constitution.
The current tax regime is more favourable to expatriates compared to the proposed system.
The matter was adjourned to January 16 for the defendants to appear in court.
The federal ministry of interior suspended the EEL implementation in 2024 for further consultations with stakeholders.
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