The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) would soon start collecting taxes on all online transactions in line with the Company's Income Tax Significant Economic Presence (SEP) order that requires Over-the-Top (OTT) services providers to declare the revenue they generate from Nigerian consumers and pay taxes to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

The order, issued by Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, imposes tax on a foreign entity with respect to certain services or digital transactions if it has a Significant Economic Presence in Nigeria.

Under the new rule, e-commerce companies like Alibaba and Amazon that generate revenue from Nigeria by processing and transmitting data collected about users in Nigeria, provision of goods or services directly or through a digital platform or offer intermediate services that link suppliers and customers in Nigeria, are to be taxed.

Under the new Act, once you have a significant economic presence in Nigeria, you are liable to tax whether you are resident here or not."

For the Association of Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), the umbrella body of telecom operators in the country, it is not right that a company providing traditional telecommunications services has to meet certain regulatory requirements, like those concerning data protection and taxes while a company providing comparable services over the web does not.