BEPS之IF成員尼日利亞至今拒絕簽署“雙支柱”協議，仍將計劃推進“數字服務稅（DST）”立法
編譯整理：思邁特國際稅務服務團隊
截至目前，BEPS包容性框架下141個成員中的137個國家（地區）已就“雙支柱”解決方案達成共識，其中只有肯尼亞、尼日利亞、巴基斯坦和斯里蘭卡尚未同意相關方案提議。而經過美國與多國的積極談判和游說，英國、奧地利、法國、意大利、西班牙、土耳其及印度等7國已經承諾在支柱一生效后，將取消征收數字服務稅以及其他相關類似單邊措施。然而，就在大家認為會有越來越多的國家承諾取消征收數字服務稅之際，加拿大卻無視其剛與OECD簽署的協議（加拿大是10月8日簽署“雙支柱”方案的135個成員之一），擬推進數字服務稅立法，讓各國感到十分意外，其中特別是美國表示堅決反對。相關內容詳見tpperson微信公眾號的往期系列推文：
1.《應“雙支柱”方案要求，多國已經承諾在支柱一生效后將取消征收數字服務稅以及其他相關類似單邊措施》
2.《加拿大無視剛簽署的“雙支柱“協議，執意推進數字服務稅立法，美國表示堅決反對》
與加拿大不同，尼日利亞早前就和肯尼亞、巴基斯坦和斯里蘭卡等3個發展中國家一樣，尚未同意相關方案提議，因此，其推出數字服務稅可以說是意料之中。2021年12月31日，尼日利亞總統MuhammaduBuhari簽署了《2021年財政法案》，在該法案中，涉及數字服務稅的稅收政策引人注目。根據尼日利亞財政部長Zainab Ahmed介紹，針對“提供應用程序、高頻交易、電子數據存儲和在線廣告等數字服務”的外國企業，除了要對其利潤“以公平且合理的比例”征稅外，還需要對其在尼日利亞消費者中賺取的總收入中，按照6%的稅率征收其數字服務稅。
尼日利亞是非洲人口最多的國家，其一直積極參與國際稅收改革議程，但其沒有支持取消數字服務稅這一舉措。究其原因，尼日利亞稅務機關官員表示支柱一主張的重新分配征稅權可能增加遵從成本；若同意取消數字服務稅，可能將影響尼日利亞的稅收收入。
尼日利亞稅務機關負責人在2021年11月24日的網絡研討會就曾表示：“我們對規則設計可能給發展中國家帶來潛在稅收負面影響的擔憂沒有得到解決，因此尼日利亞在此時放棄對此項規則作出承諾”。同時，尼日利亞稅務機關高級官員也表示：對于發展中國家來說，雙支柱的普遍問題是“實施成本高”；其他非洲國家稅務機關官員和專家也在會上表示，發展中國家普遍擔心其沒有足夠的征管能力，而且OECD也沒有說服這些非洲國家，實施雙支柱方案一定會給稅收帶來影響。
尼日利亞稅務機關負責人早在2021年8月就曾透露，尼日利亞拒絕簽署協議的原因主要是對支柱一的擔憂，其主張取消所有數字服務稅及任何類似的措施將直接沖擊尼日利亞一直以來享有的征稅權，而且藍圖設想中的爭端解決機制也不符合尼日利亞的憲法。
該協議對各具體國家的經濟影響的評估也是不可靠的。尼日利亞稅務機關負責人對此表示：“特別是對于尼日利亞，當我們計算這些數字時，與OECD提供給我們的數字相去甚遠”。他認為OECD對尼日利亞的評估是錯誤的，盡管OECD稱支柱二將在每年為全球帶來1500億美元的新稅收，但他認為幾乎不會有新稅收流入發展中國家。支柱一的目的不是帶來新稅收，而是重新分配常規利潤，尼日利亞政府和企業都表達了這將會增加遵從成本的擔憂。
尼日利亞稅務機關負責人稱尼日利亞不會做全球稅改的破壞者，會繼續在包容性框架下參與談判，如果前述擔憂得到了解決，那么尼日利亞將考慮簽署協議。
附兩則英文報道如下：
1、Nigeria To Assess 6% Digital Services Tax On Foreign Cos.
Jan 5,2022,7:12PM EST
By Kevin Pinner
Nigeria's finance minister said Wednesday the country's tax authority plans to begin collecting a 6% digital services tax on nonresident digital companies' gross revenue earnedfrom Nigerian customers, along with a separate tax on profits.
Zainab Ahmed told anews conference broadcasted online from Abuja she was empowering the FederalInland Revenue Service to assess nonresident firms that provide servicesincluding apps, high-frequency trading, data storage and online advertising.She added that a separate tax on a "fair and reasonable percentage"of profits earned from providing digital services to Nigerian customers wouldbe collected.
"The rationalefor this is to modernize the taxation of [information and communications technology] and the digital economy in line with current realities," Ahmedsaid.
Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, has been an active participant in international taxreform negotiations, but it refrained from endorsing an Oct. 8 blueprint that included a ban on DSTs.
On Dec. 31, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law Finance Act, 2021, which updates several aspects of tax policy including the DST, along with the 2022 Appropriation Act, both of which Ahmed presented to the public Wednesday.
Ahmed said Nigeriaalso plans to reduce the compliance burden on nonresident taxpayers who aren't required to register for value-added tax obligations in the country.Additionally, the finance act clarifies that the FIRS can appoint people including nonresidents to collect and remit those taxes.
VAT obligations will mainly apply to nonresident digital companies such as Amazon that provide services to Nigerian customers without a taxable presence, Ahmed said.
"So if you visit Amazon, we are expecting Amazon to add a VAT charge to whatever transaction you're paying," she told the news conference. "I'm using Amazon as anexample; we're going to be working with Amazon to agree to be registered as atax agent by the FIRS."
Last month, Ahmedtold a forum of African tax authorities that Nigeria had articulated concernsat every stage of the global tax negotiations led by the Organization forEconomic Cooperation and Development, but ultimately decided to reject the two-pillar solution for taxing the digital economy.
A top FIRS official had said earlier in December that the government feared enacting the deal would result a net loss in revenue, while the country's delegate to the OECD talks to ld Law360 in August that his nation would hold out over concerns its constitutionally enumerated taxing rights would be threatened.
A spokesperson forthe FIRS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
--Editing by VincentSherry.
2、Nigeria Declined OECD Tax Deal Over Fears Of Lost Revenue
Dec 2, 2021, 4:11 PM EST
By Kevin Pinner
Nigeria didn't signthe global tax agreement that most of the world's economies agreed to becauseits officials feared a net negative impact on revenue, according to a statement provided to Law360 by the country's tax authority.
Africa's most populous country helped lead negotiations on the so-called two-pillar solutionto taxing the digital economy endorsed Oct. 8 by nearly 140 jurisdictions ledby the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to the statement released Tuesday by Nigeria's Federal Inland Revenue Service.However, top FIRS officials projected that high costs of compliance, coupled with the scope of real located taxing rights, would cause the Nigerian government to lose money.
"Our concerns onpotential negative revenue returns that the rule designs would have fordeveloping countries were unaddressed, [so] Nigeria abstained from committing to the rules at this time," Muhammad Lawal Abubakar, executive chairman atFIRS, said during a webinar Nov. 24, according to the statement.
The agreement'sPillar One envisions new taxing rights for jurisdictions where companies makesales without a physical presence, while Pillar Two would set a 15% minimum taxrate starting in 2023 for multinational corporations that have annual revenueabove €750 million ($847 million).
Aside from Nigeria,Kenya, Pakistan and Sri Lanka also held out from signing as members of the OECDand Group of 20's inclusive framework on base erosion and profit shifting, thegroup negotiating the deal. None of the four have officially left thenegotiating table.
"The general issues that developing countries have with the outcome … is the high cost of implementation," said Mathew Olusanya Gbonjubola, a top official at FIRS and a vice chair of the inclusive framework's powerful steering committee,during the webinar, according to the statement.
Developing countriesare concerned they won't be able to administer the deal, which, even if carriedout properly, the OECD hasn't convinced them will provide a positive return,based on views shared by African tax officials and experts at a conferenceTuesday.
Gbonjubola had told Law360in August that Nigeria wouldn't sign the deal in its current form because of concerns about Pillar One. A call to remove all measures similar to digital services taxes now and in the future could impinge on taxing rights Nigeria has enjoyed for decades, he said, while the envisioned dispute resolution mechanism would conflict with the country's constitution.
FIRS bolstered hisreasons Tuesday. The country-specific economic impact assessments of the deal'smain tenets were unreliable, according to Gbonjubola.
"Particularlyfor Nigeria, when we ran the numbers, it was way off [from] the figures thatthe OECD gave us," he said.
At the OECD,Gbonjubola said, "somebody just looked at the GDP of Nigeria, and saysNigeria's GDP is this much, and then they should be able to buy this number ofshoes and things like that."
The margin of errorfor such estimates is wide, Gbonjubola said, and he's convinced the OECD iswrong about how the deal would affect his nation.
The OECD has said it estimates Pillar Two would raise $150 billion in new tax revenue annually.Pillar One is not intended to create new revenue, but rather to redistribute routine profits. Governments and companies have expressed concerns it will raise compliance costs.
Although Gbonjubola expects almost no new revenue to flow into developing countries, he said that'snot a deal-breaker, adding that it's because the pillars come packaged together that Nigeria is rejecting both.
"Since we are rejecting Pillar One, we can't take on Pillar Two," he said.
The OECD has saidcountries will need to ratify a multilateral convention to carry out PillarOne, but not Pillar Two.
Nigeria will continueto participate in negotiations at the inclusive framework, FIRS said. If theissues it has presented are addressed in a later version, the country will signup, according to the statement.
The OECD did not respond to requests for comment.
--Editing by NeilCohen.
