NEPZA: Free trade zones scheme generated N35bn as customs duty in 2021

The Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) says the country’s free trade zones (FTZs) scheme generated a total of N35.1 billion for the government as customs duty in 2021.

Speaking to NAN in Abuja on Sunday, Adesoji Adesugba, managing director of NEPZA, said the sum of N408.3 million was also remitted as pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) taxes in the same year.

According Adesugba, PAYE tax is one of the vital types of taxes in Nigeria that individuals pay to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) within their respective state of residence.

He said section 19 of the NEPZA Act mandates FTZs enterprises to file returns for statistics and data. 

In addition, section 8 stipulates that enterprises operating in zones should be exempted from federal, state and local government taxes, the NEPZA chief executive officer (CEO) said.

These enterprises, Adesugba said, are under obligation to pay all deferred taxes and duties when they extend their businesses to the customs territories.

Speaking further on the success of the FTZs, he said the scheme created 19,125 jobs in 2021, while a total of 3,000 job skills were transferred to Nigerians in the same year.

He said the federal government approved the establishment of the special economic zones (SEZ) security to be operated by NEPZA.

Adesugba said the reason for creating a viable revenue option is to reduce overdependence on the downstream sector and the FTZ scheme was adopted through the NEPZA with Act 63 of the parliament in 1992 to regulate and manage it.

“I can confidently say that the authority has done well in the actualisation of its mandate,” he said.

“We have experienced a turn around in the last seven years of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration as he continues to show commitment and passion through the federal government’s unflinching support for the success of the scheme.

“For instance, in 2017, the present administration buttressed the role of special economic zones in Nigeria’s industrialisation agenda under the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).

“The SEZ model was used to accelerate the implementation of the Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP).”

Adesugba explained that the NIRP is a four-year road map on industrialization to create jobs and promote exports, which in turn would facilitate economic growth.

“The successes and prospects of the scheme have been, in the last few years, made manifest as a result of the entrants of private investors,” he said.