FG to tax Facebook, Netflix, others

There are plans in motion for the Federal Government to tax foreign digital service providers offering services to Nigerians and earning revenue in naira.

These service providers which include video streaming sites, social media platforms, and companies that offer downloads of digital contents are expected to pay digital tax to the Federal Inland Revenue Service.

The Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, had issued the Companies Income Tax (Significant Economic Presence) Order, 2020 as an amendment of the Finance Act 2019.

The order aimed to impose tax on a foreign entity with respect to certain services or digital transactions if it had a Significant Economic Presence in Nigeria.

It further stated that the finance minister may by order, determine what constituted SEP in Nigeria.

Netflix, Facebook, Twitter, among others are some of these foreign companies that offer digital video and advertising services to Nigerians.

Others like Alibaba and Amazon generate revenue from Nigeria by processing and transmitting data collected about users in Nigeria, provision of goods or services directly or through a digital platform or offer intermediate services that link suppliers and customers in Nigeria.

The new regulation would apply to companies with income of N25m or equivalent in other currencies from Nigeria in a year and those with a Nigerian domain name (.ng) or a website address in the country.

The SEP order mandated foreign companies with sustained interactions with persons in Nigeria and customising their digital platforms to target persons in Nigeria by stating the prices of its products or services in naira to pay taxes.

According to the Act, a foreign entity providing technical services such as training, advertising, supply of personnel, professional, management or consultancy services shall have a SEP in Nigeria in any accounting year if it earns any income or receives any payment from a person resident in Nigeria or a fixed base or agent of a foreign entity in Nigeria.

However, payments made to employees of a foreign entity or for teaching in an educational institution are exempted.

Analysts at PricewaterhouseCoopers said some of the affected foreign digital companies would be required to register for income taxes in Nigeria and file annual tax returns even if they did not have a physical presence in Nigeria.

They added that Nigerian resident businesses (as well as the fixed bases of non-resident companies) that have transactions with the affected non-resident companies would also be required to account for withholding tax on some of the payments made to these foreign companies.

PwC raised concerns as to how the FIRS would enforce compliance without international consensus, as a number of the companies affected might be outside the territorial reach of the agency.

According to the consulting firm, the problem will also be exacerbated where the companies sell their products and services directly to individual consumers in Nigeria.

Facebook : Zuckerberg to review policies over Trump's posts

On Friday, Mark Zuckerberg who is the Chief executive of Facebook made a promise to review the policies of its social network. 

These policies to be reviewed are the ones that led to its decision to not moderate controversial messages posted by US President, Donald Trump.

The announcement, which came in the form of a letter to Facebook employees, appeared aimed at quelling anger inside the company that was so severe it prompted some to quit.

The outrage was sparked when Zuckerberg said Facebook would not remove or flag Trump’s recent posts that appeared to encourage violence against those protesting police racism. Zuckerberg’s message on Friday seemed to attempt to mollify that anger.

“We’re going to review our policies allowing discussion and threats of state use of force to see if there are any amendments we should adopt,” Zuckerberg wrote.

This, he said, includes “excessive use of police or state force. Given the sensitive history in the US, this deserves special consideration.”

Social media platforms have faced mounting calls to moderate the president’s comments, most recently because of the unrest gripping the United States in the wake of the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man killed while apprehended by police.

“The decision I made last week has left many of you angry, disappointed and hurt,” Mark said in the letter, which he posted on his Facebook page.

Timothy Aveni, a software engineer who resigned from the company, wrote on his Facebook page that the social media platform “will keep moving the goalposts every time Trump escalates, finding excuse after excuse not to act on increasingly dangerous rhetoric.”

Zuckerberg said that he is exploring possible changes on how policy decisions are made at Facebook, along with more ways to advance racial justice and voter engagement.

“While we are looking at all of these areas, we may not come up with changes we want to make in all of them,” he cautioned.

As per voting, he said: 

“I have confidence in the election integrity efforts we’ve implemented since 2016.

But there’s a good chance that there will be unprecedented fear and confusion around going to the polls in November, and some will likely try to capitalize on that confusion,” he said.

The letter also addressed employees’ complaints that minorities have not been sufficiently represented internally.

“We’re going to review whether we need to change anything structurally to make sure the right groups and voices are at the table,” he said.

Trending : Young boy wishes girl who broke his heart a happy birthday

The birthday post that was made by a young boy is currently trending on Facebook. With the username SE QU ENCE, the boy made a post to celebrate his ex girlfriend on the occasion of her birth remembrance.

He posted beautiful photos of himself and his ex girlfriend whose username is Nikky Nancy Ordugo. In a bid to wish her well on her birthday, he listed the things he learnt from her.

From the post, it's obvious that he suffered a heartbreak as a result of the girl. But what's more disturbing and worrisome is the fact that the boy in question cannot be anything more than 17 years old, and so is the girl.

Read the controversial post below :

"What were u thinking... That I wouldn't post.. Well I did

Ur birthday pictures were one of the best last year
This year was supposed to be better than the best... But what is surprising me is, I don't know why

Happy birthday Nikki Nancy Ordugo though I miss the time we spent together but I've learnt that it was just a waste of time

I want to use this medium to say a big thank you for teaching me the best 3 lessons of my life
1 LOVE NA SCAM
2 GIRLS DON'T DESERVE LOVE
3 GIRLS ARE NEVER TO BE TRUSTED
I owe u 2 bottles of bear for that

once more happy birthday....
Enjoy your day if u wish

Sequence rembered you
Single Boys Gang carez"

Here are beautiful photos of the former couple: