The Association of Bureau de Change Operators of Nigeria(ABCON) has kicked against the on-going banks’ suspension of bureau de change (BDC) accounts and demanded for tax remittances on turnover volumes.

ABCON President, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, said banks are acting under the directive of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to demand that BDCs pay taxes on funds used to bid for their dollar allocations sent to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on weekly basis through the commercial banks.

The ABCON boss said many banks had written BDC operators and are implementing a ‘Post No Debit’ order on the operators’ accounts, even where there is no evidence of tax default.

“The BDCs are high turnover sector and their funding cash for dollar collections cannot be subjected to taxes. An average BDC does over N30 million weekly turnover and paying taxes on such funds will affect their cash flow and ability to meet their statutory role of foreign exchange supply to the retail-end of the market,” he said.

He said many of the affected BDC operators are already facing major funding challenges that need to be addressed immediately by concerned stakeholders.

“In fact, we will be writing to the Central Bank of Nigeria –CBN- to complain about the illegal policy of the ‘Post No Debit’. Presently, most of our members funding with the deposit money banks for their bidding obligations are being trapped in the banks. This scenario if not checked, will affect our members funding capacity, derail the sustainability of their businesses with the resultant liquidity spikes,” he said.

A letter from one of the commercial banks, stated: “The bank has pursuant to section 49 of the Companies Income Tax Act LFN 2004 and Section 28, 29 and 31 of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (Establishment) Act No. 13 of 2007 been appointed by the Executive Chairman of the FIRS as collection Agent over your accounts.