ACCESS Bank Plc on Sunday concluded payment for a three-month Stamp Duty Charge for all its customers debited from February to April this year.
The affected customers had asked the bank to refund the charges to them, which the lender obliged. In a statement, the bank said it decided to remit these funds via the Central Bank of Nigeria to the Federal Government on behalf of the affected customers because of the lateness in debiting the customers’ accounts for the charge.
Access Bank said Stamp Duty Charge Collection is backed by law, and in compliance with the mandate of the ‘Finance Act, 2019 (Stamp Duty Act, Cap S8).
The bank said: “We are required by law to apply this charge as applicable and remit all funds collected to the Federal Government.”
The bank disclosed that it had inadvertently not charged stamp duty on some accounts from February to April 2020 as mandated by the Federal Government.
It said: “However, we have heard our customers’ feedback that this charge is unwelcome, especially at this time against a challenging economic backdrop.
“We have considered your feedback and have decided to pay the Stamp Duty on our customers’ behalf for the affected period only.”
The bank further explained that all individual and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) who were debited for the accumulated Stamp Duty Charge for February to April 2020, will be refunded.
Continuing, it said: “While we still have to remit these funds via the CBN to the Federal Government, we realise that we got it wrong by debiting our customers late, and we are refunding the affected Stamp Duty Charge today to all affected customers.”
The bank advised customers with further enquiries on the issue to send email to it, thanking them for sharing their views on the matter.
