FG grants N22.3b tax credit to Dangote Cement

THE Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has issued tax credit certificates valued at N22.321 billion to Dangote Cement Plc.

The FIRS issued the tax credit certificates for the construction of Apapa-Oworonshoki-Ojota road in Lagos and the Lokoja-Obajana-Kabba road connecting Kogi and Kwara States.

Dangote Cement Plc is providing the funds for the construction of the two federal roads, being executed by Julius Berger.

The credit certificates were issued to Dangote as a waiver to cover the tax that Dangote Cement would have paid.

Executive Chairman of the FIRS’, Muhammad Nami gave the clarification in Abuja on Wednesday while presenting the two tax credit certificates to Dangote Cement

The Chairman was represented by the Coordinating Director, Tax Operations Group, FIRS, Femi Oluwaniyi.

While, the tax credit certificates for the Apapa-Oworoshoki-Ojota expressway is valued at N21.6 billion, that of Lokoja-Obajana-Kabba expressway is valued at N721 million.

This is the second tax credit certificate the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) will issue to Dangote for the Lokoja-Obajana-Kabba road construction.

A credit certificate of N9.5 billion tax had earlier in 2019 been awarded to Dangote Cement for the Lokoja-Obajana-Kabba road.

Nami said: “Government came to that reasoning that if we could encourage local investors to do the needful and of course under an agreement with some due monitoring and approvals then some of the monies they would have accrued back to government as taxes, they would have paid.

“It will be in the interest of the government that other investors, business entrepreneurs, companies take advantage of this key initiative such that Nigeria can develop faster than the government would have done alone.

“We are hoping that this arrangement will be taken to another level, we are also believing that this will spur other business players out there to come and take advantage of it.”

The issuance of tax credit certificates followed the signing of Executive Order 07 of 2019 by President Muhammadu Buhari, which is on road infrastructure tax credit.

The executive order is geared towards encouraging companies to develop infrastructure around their operational area as long as it will enhance their delivery and their businesses.

Group Executive Director, Government and Stakeholders Relations of Dangote Cement, Ahmed Mansur, who received the tax credit certificates on behalf of Dangote Cement Plc, said that while it was true that the responsibility of providing public services and public facilities like roads and electricity, among others, was that of the state, the prevailing economic realities had made that difficult to achieve.

“To do it at the same time within the time that the public requires is often not possible and I think it is this kind of thing that has generated the need for the state to engage private actors to participate in the process,” he said.