Access Bank, has rescinded its position on the deduction of three-month accrued stamp duty from its customers.
The tier-1 Bank first made this known through a press a statement on its social media platforms.
Expressing empathy with the inconvenience the debiting brought upon customers, the Bank said it has โheard customersโ feedback that this charge is unwelcome, especially as it coincides with the challenging economic backdrop.โ
โWe have considered your feedback and have decided to pay the Stamp Duty on our customersโ behalf for the affected period only.
โHence, all individuals and SMEs who were debited for the accumulated Stamp Duty charge for February to April 2020 will be refunded,โ the statement reads further.
This development follows the Bankโs notification to customers through an email sent on June 23, 2020 informing all that it โwill be required to process the accumulated chargesโ incurred between February 1, 2020 and April 30, 2020.
Stamp Duty collection is in compliance with the mandate of the โFinance Act, 2019 (Stamp Duty Act, Cap S8)โ, a law that mandates financial institutions to debit N50 for all credits received into current and savings accounts in respect to electronic transfer and teller deposits of N10,000 and above.
All of the funds collected are remitted to the Federal Government.
โWhile we still have to remit these funds via the CBN to the Federal Government, we realised that we got it wrong by debiting our customers late, and we are refunding the affected stamp duty charge today to all affected customers,โ the Bank said.
The Bank has further encouraged its customers to send a mail to [email protected] should they have any further enquiries regarding the Stamp Duty charge.
