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Dubai suspends 30% tax on alcohol sales to boost tourism rack of bottles of alcohol

The government of Dubai has cancelled its 30 percent alcohol tax in order to boost tourism in the emirate.

Dubai will also scrap the personal liquor licence fees, thereby making acquisition of the permit free for alcohol consumers in the United Arab Emirates region.

With an economy boosted by tourism, Dubai is one of the most visited cities in the UAE and globally.

The latest move is an attempt by the government to make the city more attractive to foreigners, in the face of competition stiff from its Persian Gulf neighbours like Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Following the development, two alcohol distributors in Dubai — Maritime and Mercantile International (MMI), and African & Eastern — announced the tax cut on Sunday, in a bid to woo customers.

Tyrone Reid, group chief executive officer, MMI, and Emirates Leisure Retail, said the move to end the 30 percent tax on alcohol sales came after the government’s announcement, noting that it became effective immediately.

Reid added that personal liquor licences will be free-to-obtain for those eligible to legally purchase alcoholic beverages in the city.

He said people wishing to buy an alcohol licence in the city require a valid Emirates ID, or passport for tourists, and this can be done at any of MMI’s 21 stores.

“Following the announcement by the government of Dubai to remove the 30 percent municipality tax on sales of alcoholic beverages, we are pleased to announce that this will be reflected across all alcoholic beverage products in all our 21 MMI stores in Dubai, effective 1st January,” Reid said in a statement on Sunday.

“Since we began our operations in Dubai more than 100 years ago, the Emirate’s approach has remained dynamic, sensitive, and inclusive for all.

“These recently updated regulations are instrumental to continue ensuring the safe and responsible purchase and consumption of alcoholic beverages in Dubai and the UAE.”

However, while encouraging clients to “take advantage on these huge savings and stock up and apply for a free licence”, MMI said the value added tax (VAT) on its services would still apply.

While Dubai is ending the huge tax on alcoholic products, West African nations like Nigeria began the implementation of a sugar tax of N10 per litre on all non-alcoholic, carbonated, and sweetened beverages in the country last year.

Peoples Daily understands that the government of Nigeria may soon announce an additional 20 percent

ISB will transform capital market, boost investors’ confidence –Ibrahim

By Abubakar Yunus Abuja

The Investments and Securities Bill has been described as capable of transforming the capital market, encourage the influx of foreign investors as well as boost investors’ confidence among others.

Chairman of the House Committee on Capital Markets and Institutions, Hon. Babangida Ibrahim stated this during an interview weekend while commenting on the recent passage of the Bill by the House of Representatives.

Ibrahim said the ISA Bill seeks to repeal the existing Investments and Securities Act 2007 and to establish a new market infrastructure and wide ranging system of regulation of investments and securities businesses in Nigeria especially in the areas of derivatives, systematic risk management, financial market infrastructure and Ponzi scheme and platforms.

Other areas the bill addresses are alternative trading systems, inclusion of National Pensions Commission as part of the board of the Securities and Exchange Commission, deletion of the provisions on merger control in the current Act and amendment of the criteria of borrowing by sub nationals and strengthening and enforcement powers of the Securities and Exchange Commission in line with the requirement of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions, IOSCO.

According to him, “We owe a duty to Nigerians and Nigeria to make sure that things work well. In the financial market we have the money market and the capital market. With the challenges facing the money market, the only option left is the capital market. What we tried to do is to build investors’ confidence and ensure that investors are comfortable. At the same time, we realised that there are areas like derivatives, commodities exchanges, Ponzi schemes and the rest of them that are new developments in the capital market. We feel it’s very important for us to provide regulations for these new developments.

“We also emphasized borrowing by sub nationals, in the past you hardly see state governments and local governments coming into the capital market to borrow. We introduced a lot of new provisions and also made provisions relating to financial market infrastructures. Also the board of the SEC was expanded to include the Pension Commission. The existing Act needed a total overhaul because of passage of time and developments in the capital market.

Ibrahim said the Bill is also to determine the type of trainings required of an operator to perform professional functions in the capital market and also provide certification for persons deemed to have met the qualifications standards.

“The Act will achieve transformation of the market, from manual to automation, from manual to multiple securities exchanges, influx of foreign professionals into the country and also need to harmonise standards. The bill will also achieve expansion of products range in the market, equities, bonds, sukuk, derivatives and an advent of electronic share issuance.

Hon. Ibrahim stated that the House of Representatives and indeed the Committee on capital market are committed to ensuring that the Securities and Exchange Commission delivers on its core mandate of due registration of the players in the capital market, market integrity to avoid systemic risk, guarantee inspection, investigation of breaches, due surveillance, market development and law enforcement and rules making.

“This Committee is indeed proud of this bill as they seek to ensure a more robust, vibrant, prosperous and more developed capital market and also to ensure that the capital market is well institutionalised and accountable.

“We hope the resources of Nigerians in the capital market will remain safe, accountable and prosperous. The capital market is a veritable tool for wealth creation and we will ensure this is true for Nigerians. If there was any time we need to rally for the economic good of Nigeria it is now and this is the time”.

On the issue of Ponzi schemes, Ibrahim said the House has ensured that there is enough deterrent in the bill. This he said includes cash penalty, conviction as well as a combination of both cash penalty and conviction adding, “It depends on the nature and gravity of the offense but we try as much as possible that its serves as a deterrence to anyone that wants to do any manipulation in the capital market. We have provided enough regulation in this bill that will take care of many of these issues.

“I want to see a vibrant capital market that is efficient and one that can boost investors’ confidence and where the processes are simple. One of the major challenges and complaints by investors is the issue of dividend claims.

“This act will ensure the streamlining of data base of investors and also look at the aspect of registrars. This Act has looked at the various issues and ensures it aligns with the global trend. We want a capital market that anyone can come in freely, invest and get the benefit of his investments. We have to put our hands on deck to ensure that the capital market functions efficiently, we need to ensure we boost investors’ confidence and ensure that we are as transparent as possible” He added.

Also commenting on the passage of the Bill by the house, Executive Commissioner Legal and Enforcement of the SEC, Mr. Reginald Karawusa, commended the National Assembly on its efforts at ensuring a vibrant capital market that would aid economic development.

Karawusa stated that the Bill introduced the appropriate framework for regulation of Commodities Exchanges and trading of Warehouse Receipts to strengthen the commodities market ecosystem with a view to diversifying the Nigerian economy away from a mono-product economy.

Tax clearance certificate, now available in “One Click” says FIRS

By Abubakar Yunus Abuja

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has announced that taxpayers can now get their Tax Clearance Certificate in a single click via its flagship Taxpro Max solution.

The TaxPro Max, a tax administration solution introduced by the apex tax authority in June 2021 is a one-stop-shop for taxpayer registration, tax returns filing, tax payment, tax clearance certificate requesting, among other functionalities.

The Service made this announcement on Tuesday via its social media pages on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram where it stated that the generation of Tax Clearance Certificates, which used to be issued within a period of two weeks would now be available on a single click by the taxpayer.

This innovation is coming on the heels of wide-scale technological reforms that the Service has embarked on in its bid to achieve hundred percent automation of its tax administration functions.

Commenting on this development, the Executive Chairman of the FIRS, Mr. Muhammad Nami explained that this functionality was in line with the objectives of the Service to make the lives of taxpayers easier and ensure the ease of doing business in the country.

“One of our objectives as a Service is to build a CustomerCentric institution,” he stated.

“That means an institution that has the customer at the heart of its innovations and solutions. It is for this reason that we have tuned the operations of our TaxPro Max solution to be able to deliver Tax Clearance Certificates in the shortest possible time to taxpayers. At the click of a button, a taxpayer will get their Tax Clearance Certificates, as long as they have no outstanding liabilities.

“This would impact in no small measure on the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria,” Mr. Nami stated.

Explaining further Mr. Nami stated that the taxpayer could only generate their Tax Clearance Certificates on the TaxPro Max platform when they did not owe any liabilities among other conditions set out for use of the platform.

The FIRS boss noted that this innovation was aimed at appreciating taxpayers for their trust and contributions to national development, stating that the Service would continue to come up with innovative solutions that would make the taxpayers’ life easier.

He also used the opportunity to wish all taxpayers in the country a happy and prosperous new year, urging them to continue to trust the government to serve their interests, as the taxes paid by them directly and indirectly are what Government at the three tiers continue to use to fund social amenities, secure life and properties of the citizenries and provide critical national infrastructures including schools, hospitals, roads, among others.

Mr Nami also implored governments at all levels to continue give taxpayers value for their money.