NIPC grants tax relief to 17 firms

The Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) has granted Pioneer Status Incentive (PSI) to 17 companies with a total capital investment of N99.45 billion in the first quarter of 2021.

NIPC’s Head of Incentives Administration Division, Uchenna Okonkwo, who stated this in Abuja during a media parley, added that the companies were exempted from paying tax on dividends during the pioneer period.

The Industrial Development Income Tax Relief Act (IDITRA) provides that an industry or product is designated “pioneer” if it is not being carried on in Nigeria on a scale suitable to the economic requirements of Nigeria, among others.

Okonkwo also said the 17 companies created 4026 jobs, the manufacturing sector being the top magnate of the investments.

She said Ogun State attracted five of the investments worth N39.26bn, followed by Lagos with four investments worth N16.05bn. Two companies each in Anambra, FCT and Kano also benefited from the PSI. One company each in Kwara and Oyo got the PSI tax relief.

Speaking further, she noted that the IDITRA permitted a three-year tax relief period for the “pioneer industries/ products”, and that it could be extended for one year and thereafter another year or for two years at once.