Many questions after I posted Nigeria’s self-certification form for bank deposits. Many have asked “who is a non-resident in Nigeria?” People, that is a very hard question which naturally should not be. I will attempt it, not legally, but operationally.

You can download the form here – a copy of the self-certification form (pdf). As you can see, the government is not deceiving anyone. This is just a pure class of communication mistake. The form is clearly written “non-resident” which means it does not apply to Nigerians. They sent a copy to us to assuage Nigerians who are already running to withdraw money from their bank accounts. Please this is under control – government is not coming after your deposit. Hope we learn from this as a nation. If this is not well managed, some banks could have issues. Share with others.

On that form, Non-Residents should be seen as Non-Nigerians who have financial relationships in other countries. It would have meant anyone not living full time in Nigeria as they have in the U.S. and other advanced nations but the problem here is that Nigeria does not have data to know that a Nigerian who lives in US but visiting and operating an account in GTBank with his Nigerian PASSPORT is non-resident.

The bank will assume the person is a resident citizen. And because most diasporas open these accounts with their Nigerian passports, differentiating becomes hard. So, at the end, the non-residents will apply MAINLY to non-Nigerian passport holders.

Sure, there are Nigerians who run diaspora bank accounts. I do not think that is the target here since the government expects the affected people to go to their banks to complete the forms. Possibly, they would be verified with BVN. You will not expect someone to leave London to travel to Lagos to do that! https://www.tekedia.com/a-copy-of-the-nigerias-self-certification-form-individual/#comment-50261

The tax agency clarifies.

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You can download the form here – a copy of the self-certification form (pdf). As you can see, the government is not deceiving anyone. This is just a pure class of communication mistake. The form is clearly written “non-resident” which means it does not apply to Nigerians. They sent a copy to us to assuage Nigerians who are already running to withdraw money from their bank accounts. Please this is under control – government is not coming after your deposit. Hope we learn from this as a nation. If this is not well managed, some banks could have issues. Share with others.

For the background news on the form, read here.

On Thursday, Nigerian government, through its social media pages, ordered Nigerians to obtain and fill Self-Certification forms in their respective financial institutions.

The order said the forms are required by relevant financial institutions to carry out income tax regulations.

“This is to notify the general public that all account holders in Financial Institutions (Banks, Insurance Companies, etc) are required to obtain, complete and submit Self-Certification Forms to their respective Financial Institutions

Update: Who is a Non-Resident in Nigeria?

From my understanding, Non-Residents should be seen as Non-Nigerians who have financial relationships in other countries. It would have meant anyone not living full time in Nigeria as they have in the U.S. and other advanced nations but the problem here is that Nigeria does not have data to know that a Nigerian who lives in New York but visiting and operating an account in First Bank Plc  with his Nigerian PASSPORT is non-resident. 

The bank will assume the person is a resident citizen. And because most diasporas open these accounts with their Nigerian passports, Nigeria and our banks cannot figure this out. So, at the end, the non-residents will APPLY MAINLY to others with non-Nigerian passports. Sure, there are Nigerians who run diaspora bank accounts. I do not think that is the target here since the government expects the affected people to go to their banks to complete the forms. Possibly, they would be verified with BVN. You will not expect someone to leave London to travel to Lagos to do that!

There are no self-certification requirements coming to Nigerians for their bank accounts. The government has clarified that the tweets were mistakes. Going through their updated note, it is evident that running governments from Twitter may not be optimal. Those days, a press release would have been prepared with all details included. But these days, from Nigeria to U.S. to UK, governments are confusing citizens as they try to fit the unfittable into few characters. Here is a copy of the form (pdf).

“We apologize for the misleading tweets (now deleted) that went up yesterday, regarding the completion of self-certification forms by Reportable Persons,” the tweet reads.

“The message contained in the @firsNigeria Notice does not apply to everybody. FIRS will issue appropriate clarification shortly.

Earlier on Friday, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) clarified that the directive is not for all bank customers.

“This is to clarify that the publication for financial institutions account holders in Nigeria to complete the self-certification form, pursuant to the Income Tax (Common Reporting Standard) Regulations 2019 which is for the fulfilment of Automatic Exchange of Information Requirements,” the FIRS said.

“The Self-Certification form is basically to be administered on Reportable persons holding accounts in Financial institutions that are regarded as “Reportable Financial Institutions” under the CRS (Common Reporting Standard).

“Reportable persons are often non-residents and other persons who have residence for tax purposes in more than one jurisdiction or Country. Financial Institutions are expected to administer the Self Certification form on such account holders when information at its disposal indicates that the Account holder is a person resident for tax purpose in more than one jurisdiction.”

Nigeria Looks for New Sources of Funds – Goes for Bank Deposits