The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has issued a directive to landlords and property agents across the country to charge 6% stamp duty on all tenancy and lease agreements.

The directive was contained in a statement FIRS issued on Wednesday by the agency’s Director, Communications and Liaison Department, Abdullahi Ahmad.

Ahmad added that the landlords and property agents are then to remit such collections to FIRS “so that they do not run foul of the Stamp Duty Act.”

Stamp Duty payment is enabled by the Stamp Duties Act (SDA) 1939, as amended by numerous Acts and various resolutions contained in the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria. The SDA also provides a list of documents in its schedule and the duty payable on each.

The Finance Act 2019 states that “the Federal Inland Revenue Service shall be the only competent authority to impose, charge and collect duties upon instruments specified in the Schedule to this Act if such instrument relates to matters executed between a company and an individual, group or body of individuals.”

In whole, the total Stamp Duty collection for 2019 was N18 billion.

“Property-related transactions like tenancy or lease agreement fall under the Ad Valorem category of the stamp duty which attracts six per cent duty payable in percentage of the total value or sum of the tenancy or lease,” Ahmad said.