The Federal Executive Council (FEC) is proposing an amendment to the National Identity Management Commission Act No. 23, 2007 to allow resident foreigners to be issued the National Identification Number.
The FEC, on Wednesday, also proposed the Economy Stabilisation Bill to pave the way for the taxing of foreigners living and working in Nigeria.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, revealed this while briefing State House Correspondents at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday.
The two proposed legislation are aimed to “expand the scope of registrable persons to include foreign individuals with the taxable presence or taxable source of income in Nigeria, and make provisions for the mandatory use of National Identification Number for transactions which are relevant for tax administration, and for related matters.”
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Also, the Federal Government is proposing a new paragraph to Section 16, which reads, “Any person, whether or not he is a citizen of Nigeria, who is deemed to be resident or otherwise subject to tax in Nigeria under any legislation in force in Nigeria.”
If passed into law, the new bill would see expatriates and income-earning immigrants being taxed.
Onanuga explained that, “If the National Assembly passes that bill, it provides that everybody living in Nigeria, including foreigners, will now be registered and given NIN.
“Once you are doing some work here and earning income, you will be registered and given an NIN so that you can be taxed.
“Your NIN will give you your tax identity, and you can also be taxed and come under our tax structure. The law that set up the NIMC initially precludes foreigners from being registered.”
