The Federal Government will today commence the collection of income tax on bonds, short-term securities.
This followed the expiration of a 2012 gazette which exempted Companies Income Tax (CIT) from bonds and short-term securities in the past 10 years.
The Federal Government had in 2012 granted tax waiver on all bonds and debt instruments issued by all tiers of government and corporate entities.
But the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had last month introduced a 0.025 per cent charge on fixed income (bonds) secondary market transactions, which was expected to become effective today.
Reacting to the development, capital market operators which included the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) and the Association of Securities Dealing Houses of Nigeria (ASHON) have expressed support for the move by the federal government.
President, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), Olatunde Amolegbe said the introduction of the policy by the apex capital regulator would bring significant regulation to the market.
On the other hand, some market operators disagreed with the policy, arguing that it would discourage investors from federal government debt instruments.
