Consumers have kicked against the hike in charges of Operators of Point-of-Sale terminals, across the country.
POS Operators raised their charges on Monday in line with the implementation of the Electronic Money Transfer Levy of N50 by the Federal Inland Revenue Services charged on any electronic inflow of N10,000 and above.
Several fintech platforms on Sunday notified their customers that they would start the collection of N50 as an Electronic Money Transfer Levy in compliance with the Federal Government Stamp Duty Act, which would be remitted to Federal Inland Revenue Services.
Moniepoint in a mail said, “Please be informed that in compliance with the Federal Government Stamp Duty Act, you would be charged an Electronic Money Transfer Levy of N50 by the Federal Inland Revenue Services on any electronic inflow of N10,000 and above” adding that “FIRS charges you N50 for inflow received in your Moniepoint personal banking account. Moniepoint does not benefit from this but receives and remits this sum to FIRS.”
It clarified that the levy applies to all electronic inflows of N10,000 or more except when the electronic inflow is between Moniepoint accounts owned by the same user.
The Electronic Money Transfer Levy is an N50 charge on mobile money, internet banking and other electronic inflows of N10,000 or more.
PalmPay told its “Dear Valued Customer, In accordance with the Electronic Money Transfer Levy regulation of 2022, a N50 levy will be charged on transfers of N10,000 or more paid into your PalmPay account from November 30th, 2024 as mandated by the Federal Inland Revenue.
“Please note that PalmPay does not benefit from this levy, it is remitted directly to the federal government. PalmPay continues to offer unlimited free transfers to any bank account. We are dedicated to providing affordable and accessible financial services to our valued customers.”
OPay sent a terse message to its customers on the app saying, “Dear customer, in line with the FIRS, the EMTL applies starting December 1st, 2024.”
The Electronic Money Transfer Levy was first introduced through the Finance Act 2020, which expanded the scope of dutiable instruments under the Stamp Duties Act to include electronic transactions.
The regulations guide the imposition, administration, collection, and remittance of the Electronic Money Transfer Levy which was introduced by the Finance Act, 2020. Key provisions include A one-time levy of N50 on the recipient of any electronic receipts or transfers of N10,000 or more.
