Nigerian IRS revamps tax system in bid to attract international gaming operators

An agreement with E-Technologies Global will allow taxes to be deducted at the point of transaction.

Nigeria.- It’s been reported that Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service has signed an agreement with fintech company E-Technologies Global to help it modernise its tax collection system as part of efforts to attract gaming operators. Through a managed service using E-Tech’s Sentinal National Payment Gateway, integrated payments providers will be instructed to deduct taxes at the point of transaction.

Nigeria’s National Lottery Regulatory Commission aims to attract tier-one international gaming operators to apply for five-year permits to offer gaming and sports-betting services in the country. To obtain a remote operator permit, applicants must comply with risk-based AML screening and pass a “fit and proper” test, demonstrating responsible gaming practices.

The permit will allow global operators to offer regulated online gaming to Nigerian players without the need to incorporate in the country. Approved operators will connect to Sentinal so that gaming duty can be deducted from player deposits and be remitted to the government in real-time.

Mohammad Nami, executive chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, said: “The world is entering a challenging time in which there is a strong obligation on governments to increase tax revenue as a percentage of GDP so as 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.

“We have been very impressed with the Sentinal System which allows us to not only collect tax revenues at source, but also provides us with tax reporting and monitoring tools in real-time. The system will integrate with our own TaxPro Max portal.”

Lanre Gbajabiamila, director general of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission of Nigeria, said: “Online gaming continues to grow rapidly in Nigeria, particularly on mobile, and the adoption of E-Technologies’ Sentinal National Payment Gateway is a huge step to allow us to capture gaming duty at source.

“We are welcoming all responsible offshore gaming operators to apply for a Remote Operator Permit as long as they pass all the relevant criteria including full AML screening and responsible gaming practices. We are proud to be the first country to adopt the Sentinal System and we believe it will bring a real national benefit to Nigeria.”

E-Technologies Global CEO David Kicks said: “Governments in rapidly developing nations are struggling to keep pace with the evolution of ecommerce and the ascent of mobile transactions. E-Technologies was created specifically to address this issue and we have built an incredibly strong team with unrivalled expertise across fintech, ecommerce and gaming.”