The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has announced its plans to automate the collection of value-added tax (VAT) from online betting and gaming operators in Nigeria using the Sentinel National payment gateway Electronic Solution.
The chairman of FIRS, Muhammad Nami recently disclosed that online and gaming operators in the country are mandated to use the Sentinel National Payment Gateway to pay their taxes, noting that it will enable tax to be collected at the point of transaction.
The Sentinel National Payment Gateway is a transaction processing system that enables Integrated Payment Service Providers to deduct taxes at transaction points and remit the tax deducted directly to the government’s treasury
The FIRS said all operators offering online gaming services are given till December 31, 2022, to connect to the Sentinel National Payment Gateway Electronic solution.
Speaking on the recent automation of Tax on Online Betting And Gaming Operators, the FIRS chairman said, “The FIRS is automating the administration of tax on online gaming using Sentinel National Payment Gateway and Electronic Solution.
“The deployment of Sentinel National Payment Gateway will simplify tax compliance for companies engaged in online gaming activities.
“Though it is not mandatory for online gaming operators offering online gaming services from outside Nigeria to be incorporated in Nigeria, they are compelled by extant tax laws to connect to the Sentinel National Payment Gateway to dedicate tax from the gaming transactions of players in Nigeria, and remitting same directly to the government purse”.
“The world is entering a challenging time where there is a strong obligation on governments to increase tax revenue as a percentage of GDP to provide much-needed funding for local infrastructure and public services”. Nigeria needs to innovate and harness technology to ensure that online transactions are taxed and accounted for”
The sports betting industry in the country has been quite remarkable and fast in recent years. In 2019 the country’s entire sports betting market generated up to $2 billion, Investors King understands.
