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The Electronic
Tax Clearance Certificate
The Electronic Tax Clearance Certificate (e-TCC)
is a new system of issuing tax clearance certificates
in Imo State. It replaces the old paper and
manually processed Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC).
The e-TCC is a project embarked upon by the Imo
State Government to remove the abuses, which characterised
the administration of the old TCC in the state.
The abuses included:
Lots
of fake Tax Clearance Certificates (TCC) in
circulation
Loss
of revenue by the State due to large scale fraud
and malpractices
Tax
evasion
Delay
in issuing TCC to Taxpayers
Poor
identification of taxpayers
Objective
The objective of the e-TCC
project is to increase the Internally Generated
Revenue (IGR) of the State through:
Pay
As You Earn (PAYE)
Direct
Assessment of Individual Taxpayers
Capturing
of more Taxpayers into the Tax Net
Benefits
The e-TCC project has many
benefits to both the State Government and individual
taxpayers:
| Benefits
to IMSG |
Benefits
to Individuals |
| Identification
of Taxpayers |
Serves
As Identity Card to the Holder |
| Elimination
of fake Tax Clearance Certificates (TCC)
in circulation |
Data Integrity |
| Taxpayer
Enumeration |
Reinforces
Taxpayer Assurance that all Payments would
be remitted to the Government Coffers by
the various Agencies |
| Attraction
of more Taxpayer to the Tax Net |
Card is
Durable and Portable |
| Easy Reconciliation
of Tax Returns |
Provides
Easy Access to Taxpayer Payment History
|
| Total remittance
of all collected revenues into Government
coffers |
Eliminates
Delay in obtaining TCC |
Goals
Achieved
Several goals have been achieved
in the e-TCC project. They include:
Development
of an Application Form
Installation
of Information Technology Facilities such as
Computers, Printers, Internet Access and Generators
at the Tax Stations
Distribution
of Customised Terminals/Card Readers to designated
places and Tax offices
Maintenance
of Database to Ensure Data Integrity
Staging
of Vigorous Enlightenment Campaigns to Create
Public Awareness
Training
Resource Person for the Project
Continuous
Cost-benefit Analysis of the Project
Gathering
of Accurate and Timely Taxpayer Data
Prevision
of Logistic Support for the Project
Identification
of Project Implementation Team/Committee
Data
Capture by Banks
Accurate data supplied by
both the banks and taxpayers are crucial to the
success of the project. The banks are to:
1. |
Capture Accurate taxpayer Information at
the Point of their making Payments at the
Banks |
2. |
Ensure
that all Taxpayers Accurately complete the
Necessary Fields on the Deposit Slips |
3. |
Capture Accurate Taxpayer Data before Transmitting
them into their Systems and Subsequently
to ABC |
NOTE |
Inaccurate
Information from either Taxpayers or Banks
will delay the Processing of the e-TCC or
outright cancellation of receipt. Banks
that Fail to comply with the Foregoing directives
would be advised to withdraw from EBS-RCM
scheme. |
Process
Flow
The Process Flow of e-TCC project
is as follow:
|
TaxPayer |
Designated
Banks |
Tax
Audit Monitoring Agents |
BIR
Headquarters |
| Remits
taxes at a designated bank |
Acknowledge
remittances made by taxpayers by reporting
them to ABC via Internet or diskette |
Carry out
tax audit of companies to capture all employees
and individuals into the tax net |
BIR/ABC
distribute e-TCC application Forms, Form
A, Form H1, Form L1 and Form H2 to all companies
through Tax Stations/Revenue Centres |
| Obtain
receipt from banks |
Give additional
information to ABC on Taxpayers (if necessary) |
Ensure
that e-TCC Application Forms of audited
companies/individuals are collected, completed
and returned to relevant Tax Stations/ABC
|
Advise
all companies to apply for e-TCC on behalf
of their employees; also advises
Taxpayers to apply for e-TCC
|
| Applies
for e-TCC |
Obtains
receipt from ABC on behalf of Taxpayers |
Ensure
that the companies pay the tax liabilities
arrived at during the audit process into
designated bank accounts and that the companies
complete Form H1 while their employees complete
Form H2 (supply information in Forms H1
in electronic copy)
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In cases
of non-compliance, serve the affected companies/individuals
with audit notifications |
Pays additional
assessment
( if necessary) |
Deliver
receipts to Taxpayers |
Advise
the companies to apply for Tax Audit Clearance
Certificates after the payment of Tax liabilities
arrived at during Tax Audit process
|
Approve
the issuance of e-TCC to the applicants |
| Obtains
e-TCC from Tax Station |
|
Tax Monitoring
Agents (TMA) ensure that Individuals within
their areas of operation apply for e-TCC |
|
| Tax
Stations |
Tax
Authority |
Alpha-Beta
Consulting Limited (ABC) |
Cross
check submitted form to ensure the correctness
and accuracy of all documents attached to
e-TCC Form by an applicant
|
Determines
level of compliance by Taxpayers |
Acknowledges tax remittances from Banks |
| Ensure
that adequate remittances have been made
by an applicant or on behalf of an applicant
based on Forms H2 and A |
Raises
additional assessment (if necessary) |
Delivers taxpayer receipts to the Banks |
| Confirm
adequacy of remittances especially of the
current year by the Audit unit |
Forwards
Taxpayer Application Forms to ABC |
Collects approved application forms, Form
H1 and Form H2 from Tax Stations for processing |
| Make additional
assessment if necessary and ensure that
payment is made by the applicants |
Advises
ABC to produce e-TCC for Taxpayers |
Captures the data of all Applicants into
e-TCC database using the completed application
forms, Form H1 and/or Form H2 |
| |
Receives
processed card from ABC |
Follows up the collection of e-TCC application
forms, Form H1 and Form H2 with companies
which fail to submit at Tax Stations |
| |
Issuing
Authority completes the Official section
of e-TCC Application form |
Produces e-TCC for applicants and uploads
tax remittance history on the card chips |
| |
Delivers
processed cards to applicants |
Delivers fully processed cards to Revenue
Centres and relevant tax offices/companies |
Guidelines
For Application
A set of guidelines for both
Pay As You Earn (PAYE) and non-Pay As You Earn
applicants for the e-TCC has been outlined
| PAYE
Applicants |
Non-PAYE
Applicants |
| PAYE applicants
are to: |
Non PAYE
applicants are to: |
| Complete
Form A obtained from the Board of Internal
Revenue (BIR) at the beginning of the year |
Complete
the e-TCC application form obtainable from
designated centres in the state such as:
|
| Complete
the e-TCC application form obtainable from
designated centres in the state such as:
|
Tax Stations/Revenue
centres |
| Tax Stations/Revenue
centres |
BIR headquarters,
or, |
| BIR headquarters,
or, |
Downloaded
from the EBS-RCM website (www.lasg-ebs-rcm.com) |
| Downloaded
from the EBS-RCM website (www.lasg-ebs-rcm.com) |
Attach
photocopy of Assessment Notice |
| Attach
completed and certified Form H2 and passport
photographs with name written at the backside |
Attach
photocopy of Receipt as evidence of tax
remittance |
| Submit
the documents to the Tax/Revenue centre
where the employer is registered |
Attach
passport photograph with full names written
at the back |
| Check
back after 7 working days to collect e-TCC |
Submit
all documents at the Tax Station/Revenue
Centre where taxpayer is registered |
| |
Check back
to collect card after 7 working days |
Provision
of Infrastructures
The State Government provides
the following infrastructures at the Tax Station
Computers
Printers
Generators
Internet
Access
Note Where the State Government fails to provide
the above facilities, ABC would provide them in
order not to delay the project
e-TCC
Customisation
The card has the following
features:
A
hybrid card system comprising a smart chip on
the front and a magnetic strip at the back
Carries
a picture of the taxpayer and the logo of the
State and the Coats of Arms
Interfaces
with terminals on database through web-enabled
and customized Application Programming Interfaces
(API) running on window 2000/XP
Publicity
and Enlightenment Campaigns
The Lagos State Government
stages public enlightenment and awareness campaigns
to educate and enlighten the public on:
The
introduction and continuous use of e-TCC as
a replacement for the paper-based TCC
Importance
of supplying accurate information by taxpayer
when completing the e-TCC application form,
the deposit slips at the designated banks when
remitting taxes.
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