FIRS Extends deadline for Submission of Financial Reports

Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has extended the deadline for the submission of 2019 financial accounts reports under the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) to September 30.

Financial institutions were initially directed to file their reports under the Automatic Exchange of Information Common Reporting Standard (AEOI-CRS) regulations on May 31.

However, Mr. Muhammad Nami, executive chairman, FIRS, in a statement posted on Twitter, said the adjustment in submission deadline was in recognition of the challenges faced by financial institutions, which may result in the delay in reporting financial account information.

He said the service had been inundated with requests for an extension of the time of filing reports by the institutions.

Nami explained that the FIRS was committed to providing, as a priority, support to all taxpayers to ease their tax compliance obligations at all times, particularly during the COVID-19 restrictions.

He urged all financial institutions to take advantage of the extension to prepare and finalise relevant information as required under the Income Tax (Common Reporting Standard) Regulations 2019 and its related guidelines for reporting by September 30.

The service had earlier outlined measures to support taxpayers in managing their tax obligations during the current challenging times occasioned by the effects of COVID-19.