Court summons interior minister, AGF over expatriate tax regime

Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Thursday, summoned the Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), over the proposed expatriate tax regime.

The duo are expected to appear in court in the next three days to show cause why the implementation of the tax regime should not be stopped.

The judge in a ruling on a motion ex-parte moved by counsel who appeared for the plaintiff, Patrick Peter, ordered that the minister and the AGF be served with the motion within three days of the order.

The plaintiff, Incorporated Trustees of New Kosol Welfare Initiative, had in the motion ex-parte marked: FHC/ABJ/CD/1780/2024, sought an order of interim injunction restraining the defendants from commencing the implementation of the new Expatriate Taxation Regime known as the “Expatriate Employment Levy (EEL)” in Nigeria, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.

In the affidavit, a Programme Implementation Coordinator of the group, Raphael Ezeh averred that on February 27, 2024, the Federal Government unveiled a set of proposed new taxation policies called the Expatriate Employment Levy (EEL).

READ ALSO: Nigerian govt streamlines withholding tax regime, aims to ease business burden

He said: “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.

“For every expatriate on a non-director level – Ten Thousand United States Dollars ($10,000.00) equivalent to Sixteen Million Naira, by the current exchange rates (N16,000,000.00) per annum.”

Ezeh alleged that the federal government also planned additional regulations consisting of penalties and sanctions for non-compliance with the proposed taxation regime.

According to him, inaccurate or incomplete reporting will attract five years imprisonment and/or N1 million.

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