ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
I. Short title.
- Interpretation.
Provisions applicable to instruments generally
Charge of duty upon instruments
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Charge of duties in Schedule.
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Stamping and collection of duties on corporate instruments.
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Manner of denoting duty.
Appointment of commissioners
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Commissioners of stamp duties.
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Discontinuance and issue of dies.
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Instruments to be separately charged with duty in certain cases.
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Facts and circumstances affecting duty to be set forth in instrument.
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Modeof calculating ad valorem duty in certain cases.
Use of adhesive stamps
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Cancellationof adhesive stamps.
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Propertime for stamping instruments.
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Penaltyfor fraud in relation to adhesive stamps.
Appropriated stamps
- Appropriatedstamps.
Adjudication by a commissioner
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Asto denoting certiticate.
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The commissioner may be required to express his opinion as to duty.
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The commissioner may call for and refuse to proceed without evidence.
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Personsauthorised to take declarations and affidavits.
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Effect of assessment by commissioner and payment of duty in accordance therewith.
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Twocommissioners not to adjudicate on same instrument.
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Personsdissatisfied may appeal.
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Terms upon which instruments not duly stamped may be received in evidence.
Stamping of instruments after execution
- Stampingof instruments after execution.
Entries upon rolls, books and documents
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Certainrolls and books to be open to inspection.
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Penaltyfor enrolling instrument not stamped.
Destruction of unclaimed instruments
- Destructionof unclaimed instruments.
Regulations applicable to particular instruments
Admission
- Modeof denoting duty.
Agreements
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Adhesivestamps may be used for agreements.
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Certainmortgages of stock to be chargeable as agreements.
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Hirepurchase agreement to be stamped.
Appraisements
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Definitionof "appraiser".
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Appraisementsto be written out.
Instruments of apprenticeship
- Meaningof instrument of apprenticeship.
Bank notes, bills of exchange and promissory notes
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Meaningof "banker" and "bank note".
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Bankersnot to issue bank notes in Nigeria other than those of Central Bank of Nigeria.
Bills of exchange and promissory notes
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Meaningof "bill of exchange".
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Meaningof "promissory note".
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Statement of duty payable on promissory note containing guarantee.
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Provisionsfor use of adhesive stamps on bills and notes.
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Provisionsas to stamping foreign bills and notes.
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Provisionsas to bills and notes purporting to be drawn abroad.
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Penaltyfor issuing any unstamped bill or note.
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Onebill only of a set need be stamped.
Bills of lading
- Billsof lading.
Bills of sale
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Billsof sale.
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Provisionsas to duty on charter-party.
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Charter-partiesexecuted abroad.
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Termsupon which charter-parties may be stamped after execution.
Contract notes
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Provisionsas to contract notes.
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Obligationto execute contract note.
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Extension of provisions as to contract notes to sale or purchase of options.
Conveyances on sale
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Meaningof "conveyance on sale".
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How ad valorem duty is to be calculated in respect of stock and securities.
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Howconsideration consisting of periodical payments to be charged.
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Conveyanceon sale with further covenant.
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Howconveyance in consideration of a debt is to be charged.
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Directionas to duty in certain cases.
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Certaincontracts to be chargeable as conveyances on sale.
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Where interest in land transferred by sale and possession without a conveyance.
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Provisionsfor use of adhesive stamps on bills and notes.
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Provisionsas to stamping foreign bills and notes.
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Provisionsas to bills and notes purporting to be drawn abroad.
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Penaltyfor issuing any unstamped bill or note.
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Onebill only of a set need be stamped.
Bills of lading
- Billsof lading.
Bills of sale
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Billsof sale.
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Provisionsas to duty on charter-party.
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Charter-partiesexecuted abroad.
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Termsupon which charter-parties may be stamped after execution.
Contract notes
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Provisionsas to contract notes.
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Obligationto execute contract note.
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Extension of provisions as to contract notes to sale or purchase of options.
Conveyances on sale
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Meaningof "conveyance on sale".
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How ad valorem duty is to be calculated in respect of stock and securities.
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Howconsideration consisting of periodical payments to be charged.
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Conveyanceon sale with further covenant.
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Howconveyance in consideration of a debt is to be charged.
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Directionas to duty in certain cases.
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Certaincontracts to be chargeable as conveyances on sale.
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Where interest in land transferred by sale and possession without a conveyance.
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Provisionas to sale of an annuity or right not before in existence.
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Principalinstillment, how to be ascertained.
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Dutypayable in certain cases under an Act on vesting of property.
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Dutyon gifts inter vivos.
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Licencewith a grant to enter upon land.
Conveyances on any occasion except sale or mortgage
- What is to be deemed a conveyance on any occasion not being a sale or mortgage.
Duplicates and counterparts
- Provisionas to duplicates and counterparts.
Exchange and partition or division
- Provisionsas to exchange.
Leases
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Agreementsto be charged as lease.
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Leases,how to be charged in respect of produce.
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Directionsas to duty in certain cases.
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Dutyon certain leases may be denoted by adhesive stamp.
Letter of allotment or renunciation, scrip certificates and scrip
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Provisionsas to letters of allotment.
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Dutyon both letter of allotment and letter of renunciation.
Letters or powers of attorney and voting papers
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Provisionsas to proxies and voting papers.
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Power by more than one person or to more than one person to count as one power.
Marketable securities
SECTION
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Meaningof "marketable securities".
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Meaning of marketable security transferable on delivery and instrument to bearer.
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Marketable security transferable on delivery to be stamped on execution.
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Dutyreduced in case of short-term marketable securities.
Mortgages
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Meaningof "mortgage" and "equitable mortgage".
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Directionas to duty in certain cases.
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Securityfor future advances, how to be charged.
Notarial acts
- Dutyon notarial acts may be denoted by adhesive stamps.
Policies of insurance
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Interpretation.
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Stampon policy of insurance against accident and sickness.
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Dutyon policy of marine insurance.
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Penalty for not making out policy of insurance or making any policy not stamped.
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Assignment of policy of life assurance to be stamped before payment of money assured.
Receipts
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Provisionsas to duty upon receipts.
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Certainforms of receipts not dutiable.
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Terms upon which receipts may be stamped after execution and used in evidence un- stamped.
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Penaltyfor offences in reference to receipts.
Settlements
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Provisionsas to settlement of policy or security.
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Settlements;when not to be charged as securities.
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Whereseveral instruments, one only to be charged with ad valorem duty.
Share warrants
- Penaltyfor issuing share warrant not duly stamped.
Stock certificates to bearer
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Meaningof stock certificate to bearer.
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Penaltyfor neglecting to cancel stock certificate upon registration.
Warrant for goods
- Meaningand provisions as to warrants for goods.
Supplemental
Duty on capital of companies
SECTION
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Charge of duty on capital of limited liability companies.
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Charge of duty on capital of companies with limited liability otherwise than under Cap. C20.
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Duty on loan capital.
Definition of "loan capital".
- Reduction of duty on loan c
(1) From and after the commencement of this Act, the duties to be charged upon the several instruments specified in the Schedule to this Act shall be the several duties set out in the said Schedule, which duties shall be in substitution for the duties heretofore chargeable under the enactments repealed by this Act and shall be subject to the exemptions contained in this Act and in any other Act for the time being in force.
(2) The duties charged under this Act shall be accounted for in a manner to be pre- scribed in proper case by the Minister after consultation with the Governors of the States.
(3) The functions under this Act shall be respectively confined to matters in respect of which the Government of the Federation and the Government of such State shall be competent to make laws:
Provided that nothing herein shall be interpreted as preventing the appointment by the President and by a Governor of the same person to be both a Federal and a State commissioner under section 6 of this Act.
- Stamping and collection of duties on corporate instruments
(1) The Federal Government shall be the only competent authority to impose, charge and collect duties upon instruments specified in the Schedule to this Act if such instru- ment relates to matters executed between a company and an individual, group or body of individuals.
(2) The State Governments shall collect duties in respect of instruments executed between persons or individuals at such rates to be imposed or charged as may be agreed with the Federal Government.
(3) In this section, "company" includes banks and other financial institutions.
- Manner of denoting duty
(1) All duties for the time being chargeable under the provisions of this Act upon any instruments shall be paid and denoted according to the provisions in this Act, and, except where express provision is made to the contrary in this Act or by the regulations made thereunder, are to be denoted by impressed stamps only.
(2) Where the duty may be denoted by adhesive stamps, postage stamps may, subject to the provisions of any Act or regulation, be used for the purpose.
(3) Every instrument written upon stamped material shall be written in such a man- ner, and every instrument partly or wholly written before being stamped shall be so stamped, that the stamp shall appear on the face of the instrument and cannot be used or applied to any other instrument written upon the same piece of material.
(4) No impressed or embossed stamp or stamps made by means of a die shall be used in any manner except upon the document upon which it was originally impressed, em- bossed or stamped.
(5) The amount of the duty upon any instrument may be denoted by several stamps, and stamps of greater value than is required may be used upon any instrument.
Appointment of commissioners
- Commissioners of stamp duties
(1) The relevant Civil Service Commission may appoint one or more officers who shall be commissioners of stamp duties and shall have the care and management of the duties to be taken under this Act.
(2) Except as otherwise provided by this Act or by any law for the time being in force, any decision, act or thing required to be made or done by a commissioner may be made or done by anyone of the said commissioners when there are more than one com- missioners.
(3) When appointing a commissioner, the President or Governor, as the case may be, may signify that the duty of such commissioner shall be confined to adjudication under section 15 of this Act.
- Discontinuance and issue of dies
(1) Until discontinued as provided in this section, the dies for impressed revenue stamps in use at the coming into force of this Act shall continue to be used, and the com- missioners may, from time to time, procure new dies of the same design.
(2) No die of new design of impressed revenue stamp shall be used without the ap- proval of the Minister or Governor, as the case may be, and a notification of such ap- proval shall be published in the Federal Gazette at least one month before such new die shall be used.
(3) The Minister or Governor, as the case may be, may by notice in the Federal Gazette determine to discontinue the use of any die for the use of a revenue stamp and pro- vide a new die to be used in lieu thereof: then from and after any day to be stated in the notice (such day not being within one month after the same is so published) the new die shall be the only lawful die for denoting the duty chargeable in any case in which the discontinued die would have been used; any and every instrument first executed by any person, or bearing date after the day so stated, and stamped with the discontinued die, shall be deemed to be not duly stamped:
Provided that-
(a) if any instrument stamped as last aforesaid, and first executed after the day so stated at any place out of Nigeria is brought to a commissioner within 21 days after it has been received in Nigeria, then, upon proof of the facts to the satisfaction of the commissioner, the stamps thereon shall be cancelled and the instrument shall be stamped with the same amount of duty by means of the lawful die, without the payment of any penalty;
(b) all persons having in their possession any material stamped with the discontinued dies, and which by reason of the providing of such new die has been rendered useless, may, at any time within six months after the day stated in the notice, send the said material to the Accountant-General who shall cause the stamp on such material to be cancelled and refund the amount of duty paid upon such material.
- Instruments to be separately charged with duty in certain cases
Except where express provision to the contrary is made by this or any other Act-
(a) an instrument containing or relating to several distinct matters shall be separately and distinctly charged, as if it were a separate instrument, with duty in respect of each of such matters;
(b) an instrument made for any consideration or consideration in respect whereof it is chargeable with ad valorem duty, and also for any further or other valuable consideration, or considerations, shall be separately and distinctly charged, as if it were a separate instrument, with duty in respect of each of the considerations.
- Facts and circumstances affecting duty to be set forth in instrument
All the facts and circumstances affecting the liability of any instrument to duty, or the amount of the duty with which any instrument is chargeable, shall be fully set forth in the instrument; and every person who, with intent to defraud the Government of the Federation or of any State-
(a) executes any instrument in which all the said facts and circumstances are not fully and truly set forth; or
(b) being employed or concerned in or about the preparation of any instrument, neglects or omits fully and truly to set forth therein all the said facts and circumstances, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine of forty naira.
- Modeof calculating ad valorem duty in certain cases
(1) Where an instrument is chargeable with ad valorem duty in respect of-
(a) anymoney in any foreign currency; or
(b) any stock or marketable security, the duty shall be calculated on the value, on the day of the date of the instrument, of the money in United States dollars according to the current rate of exchange, or of the stock or security according to the average price thereof.
(2) Where an instrument contains a statement of current rate of exchange, or average rate of exchange, or average price, as the case may require, and is stamped in accordance with that statement, it shall, so far as regards the subject matter of the statement, be deemed duly stamped, unless or until it is shown that the statement is untrue, and that the instrument is in fact insufficiently stamped.
Use of adhesive stamps
- Cancellationof adhesive stamps
(1) An instrument, the duty upon which is required or permitted by law to be denoted by an adhesive stamp, shall not be deemed duly stamped with an adhesive stamp unless the person required by law to cancel such adhesive stamp cancels the same by writing on or across the stamp his name or initials, or the name or initials of his firm, together with the true date of his so writing, or otherwise effectively cancels the stamp and renders the same incapable of being used for any other instrument or for any postal purpose or for payment of a telegram:
Provided that, when the person required by law to cancel an adhesive stamp is an illiterate person, the stamp shall be deemed to be sufficiently cancelled, if the mark of such person, together with the true date of the making thereof, is written on or across such stamp.
(2) When two or more adhesive stamps are used to denote the duty upon an instrument, each or every stamp shall be cancelled in the manner aforesaid.
(3) Every person who, being required by law to cancel an adhesive stamp, neglects or refuses duly and effectively to do so in the manner aforesaid, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine of twenty naira.
- Propertime for stamping instruments
Every instrument first executed in Nigeria, which by law may be or is required to be stamped with an adhesive stamp, shall be stamped on or before its first execution, and such stamp shall be cancelled by the person by whom the instrument is first executed and, at the time of such execution:
[28 of 1941.]
Provided that where an instrument is prepared or attested by or executed before a commissioner of oaths, a justice of the peace or a notary public, such tamp shall be can- celled by such commissioner of oaths, justice of the peace or notary public at the time of its first execution.
- Penaltyfor fraud in relation to adhesive stamps (1) If any person-
(a) fraudulently removes or causes to be removed from any instrument any adhesive stamp, or affixes to any other instrument or uses for any postal purpose any adhesive stamp which has been so removed, with intent that the stamp may be used again; or
(b) sells or offers for sale, or utters any adhesive stamp which has been so removed, or utters any instrument having thereon any adhesive stamp which has to his knowledge been so removed as aforesaid, he shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction in addition to any other fine or penalty to which he may be liable, to a fine of one hundred naira.
(2) The expression "instrument" in this section, includes a telegram and any postal article within the meaning of the Nigerian Postal Services Act.
Appropriated stamps
- Appropriatedstamps
(1) A stamp which by any word or words on the face of it is appropriated to any particular description of instrument shall not be used, or if used, shall not be available, for an instrument of any other description.
(2) An instrument falling under the particular description to which any stamp is so appropriated as aforesaid shall not be deemed duly stamped, unless it is stamped with the stamp so appropriated.
Adjudication by a commissioner
- Asto denoting certificate
Where the duty with which an instrument is chargeable depends in any manner upon the duty paid upon another instrument, the payment of such last-mentioned duty shall, upon the application to a commissioner, payment of a fee of 26 kobo and production of both the instruments, be denoted upon such first-mentioned instrument by a certificate under the hand of the commissioner.
- Thecommissioner may be required to express his opinion as to duty
(1) Subject to such regulations as the Minister or Governor, as the case may be, may think fit to make, a commissioner may be required by any person to express his opinion with reference to the amount of duty (if any) payable on any executed instrument; and in such case, a certificate shall be endorsed on the instrument, under the hand of the commissioner, stating that, in his opinion, such instrument is not chargeable with any duty, or the particular amount with which, in his opinion, it is chargeable or, if in his opinion such is the case, that it is duly stamped:
Provided that nothing in this section shall extend to any instrument chargeable with ad valorem duty and made as a security for money or stock without limit; or shall authorise the stamping after the execution thereof of any instrument which by law cannot be stamped after execution.
(2) An adhesive stamp for the fee prescribed under sections 15 and 66 of this Act shall be supplied to the commissioner by the person requiring the certificate at the time when the application for the certificate is made and such stamp shall be fixed to the in- strument by the commissioner and cancelled by him prior to giving the certificate.
- The commissioner may call for and refuse to proceed without evidence
In any case of application to a commissioner with reference to any instrument, the commissioner may require to be furnished with such evidence by means of affidavit or otherwise as he may deem necessary in order to show to his satisfaction whether all the facts and circumstances affecting the liability of the instrument to duty, or the amount of the duty chargeable thereon, are fully and truly set forth therein, and may refuse to pro- ceed upon any such application until such evidence has been furnished accordingly.
- Personsauthorised to take declarations and affidavits
Any statutory declaration or affidavit made in pursuance of or for the purposes of this Act or any other Act for the time being in force relating to stamp duties may be made before any of the commissioners or any other person authorised by law to administer oaths.
- Effect of assessment by commissioner and payment of duty in accordance therewith
Every instrument bearing a certificate of a commissioner that it is not chargeable with duty or that it is duly stamped, or being stamped with the amount of duty assessed and certified by him shall be admissible in evidence and available for all purposes, notwithstanding any objection relating to duty:
Provided that an instrument upon which the duty has been assessed by a commissioner shall not be stamped otherwise than in accordance with the assessment of the commissioner.
- Two commissioners not to adjudicate on same instrument
Any person, other than a public officer in the exercise of his official duties who, after an instrument has been submitted to a commissioner for his opinion as to the amount of duty with which the instrument is chargeable, subsequently submits the same instrument to a different commissioner for an expression of his opinion as to the amount of duty with which the instrument is chargeable, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of twenty naira.
- Personsdissatisfied may appeal.
(1) Any person who is dissatisfied with the assessment of a commissioner may, within 21 days after the date of the assessment, and on payment of duty in conformity therewith, appeal against the assessment to the High Court of the State in which the assessment was made and may for that purpose require the commissioner to state and sign a case, setting forth the question upon which his opinion was required, and the assessment made by him.
(2) The commissioner shall thereupon state and sign a case and deliver the same to the person by whom it is required, and the case may, within seven days thereafter but not later, be filed by him in the High Court and thereafter be heard by the said court.
(3) Upon the hearing of the case, the court shall determine the question submitted, and, if the instrument in question is in the opinion of the court chargeable with any duty, shall assess the duty with which it is chargeable.
(4) If it is decided by the court that the assessment of the commissioner is wrong, the court shall assess the correct amount of duty; and
(a) in the event of an excess of duty having been paid in conformity with the erroneous decision of the commissioner, any excess of duty which may have been paid in conformity with such decision, together with any fine or penalty which may have been paid in consequence thereof, shall be ordered by the court to be repaid to the appellant, with or without costs as the court may determine; and
(b) in the event of the court assessing an amount of duty greater than that assessed by the commissioner, the difference between the amount of duty assessed by the commissioner and the amount assessed by the court together with any fine or penalty which may have been incurred but not yet paid, with or without costs as the court may determine, shall be paid by the appellant, forthwith or within such time as the court may direct, in stamps which shall be affixed to or impressed on the document in the presence of a commissioner and in the case of adhesive stamps, cancelled by him.
- Terms upon which instruments not duly stamped may be received in evidence
(1) Upon the production of an instrument chargeable with any duty as evidence in any court of civil judicature in Nigeria, or before any arbitrator or referee, notice shall be taken by the judge, magistrate, arbitrator, or referee of any omission or insufficiency of the stamps thereon, and if the instrument is one which may legally be stamped after the execution thereof, it may, on payment to the officer of the court whose duty it is to read the instrument, or to the arbitrator or referee, of the amount of the unpaid duty, and the penalty payable on stamping the same, and of a further sum of two naira, be received in evidence, saving all just exceptions on other grounds.
(2) The officer, or arbitrator, or referee receiving the duty and penalty shall give a receipt for the same, and make an entry in the proper book kept for the purpose of showing receipts of money and of the amount thereof, and shall communicate to a commissioner the name or title of the proceedings in which and of the part from whom, he received the duty and penalty, and the date and description of the instrument, and shall pay over to the Accountant-General the money so received by him for the duty and penalty.
(3) On production to the commissioner of any instrument in respect of which any duty or penalty has been paid, together with the receipt, the payment of the duty and penalty shall be denoted on the instrument.
(4) Except as aforesaid and subject to the provisions of section 90 (3) of this Act, an instrument executed in Nigeria, or relating, wheresoever executed, to any property situate or to any matter or thing done or to be done in Nigeria, shall not, except in criminal proceedings, be given in evidence, or be available for any purpose whatever, unless it is duly stamped in accordance with the law in force in Nigeria at the time when it was first executed.
Stamping of instruments after execution
- Stampingof instruments after execution
(1) Except where other express provision is made in this Act, any unstamped or in- sufficiently stamped instrument may be stamped with an impressed stamp at any time within forty days from the first execution thereof (unless such period of forty days is reduced by an order as provided in subsection (7) of this section) upon payment of the duty or unpaid duty only but after that time the said instrument may only be stamped upon payment of the unpaid duty and a penalty of twenty naira, and also by way of further penalty, where the unpaid duty exceeds twenty naira, of interest on such duty, at the rate of ten per cent per annum, from the day upon which the instrument was first executed up to the time when the amount of interest is equal to the unpaid duty.
(2) Stamps representing the amount of the unpaid duty together with the penalty shall-
(a) in the case of impressed stamps, be impressed on the instrument; and
(b) in the case of adhesive stamps, be affixed to the instrument, in the presence of a commissioner, who shall thereupon, in the case of adhesive stamps, cancel the stamps by writing his initials and the date thereon, and in addition, in the case of those stamps whether impressed or adhesive which do not clearly indicate that they represent a penalty, write the word "Penalty" thereon, and any such cancellation shall be effective for all purposes.
(3) In the case of such instruments hereinafter mentioned as are chargeable with ad valorem duty, the following provisions shall have effect-
(a) the instrument, unless it is written upon duly stamped material, shall be duly stamped with the proper ad valorem duty before the expiration of thirty days after it is first executed, or after it has been first received in Nigeria if it was first executed at any place outside Nigeria;
(b) if any such instrument executed after the coming into operation of this Act has not been or is not duly stamped in conformity with the foregoing provisions of this subsection, the person in that behalf specified in paragraph (c) of this sub- section shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine of twenty naira, and in addition to the penalty prescribed under subsection (1) and (2) on stamping the instrument there shall be paid a further penalty equivalent to the unpaid duty thereon, unless a reasonable excuse for the delay in stamping or the omission to stamp, or the insufficiency of stamp, is afforded to the satisfaction of the commissioner, or of the court, arbitrator or referee before whom it is produced;
(c) the instruments and persons to which the provisions of this subsection are to apply are as follows-
Where any instrument has been left with or at the office of any commissioner for any purpose connected with any of the provisions of this Act and the instrument is not claimed by the person to whom the same belongs within six months of its being so left, a notice may be inserted in an issue of the Federal Gazette stating that the instrument will be destroyed if not claimed by such person within two months of the publication of the notice and if the instrument is not so claimed it may be destroyed.
Appraisements
(b) any bill of exchange or promissory note so issued which entitles or is intended to entitle the bearer or holder thereof, without endorsement or without any further or other endorsement than may be thereon at the time of the issuing thereof, to the payment of money not exceeding two hundred naira on demand, whether the same be so expressed or not and in whatever form, and by whomsoever the bill or note is drawn or made.
Where an instrument under hand only contains both a promissory note by a principal debtor and a guarantee by a surety but there is no memorandum of charge, pledge or de- posit or other form of security, such instrument shall be stamped both as a promissory note and as a guarantee, and all other matters contained in a promissory note which would be liable to duty if contained in a separate instrument, shall be charged separately.
(1) Every person who issues, endorses, transfers, negotiates, presents for payment, or pays any bill of exchange or promissory note liable to duty and not being duly stamped, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine of twenty naira, and the person who takes or receives from any other person any such bill or note either in payment or as a security, or by purchase or otherwise, shall not be entitled to recover thereon, or to make the same available for any purpose whatever:
(2) The duty upon a charter-party may be denoted by an adhesive stamp, which shall be cancelled by the person by whom the instrument is last executed, or by whose execu- tion it is completed as a binding contract.
A conveyance on sale made for any consideration in respect whereof it is chargeable with ad valorem duty, and in further consideration of a covenant by the purchaser to make, or of his having previously made, any substantial improvement of or addition to the property conveyed to him, or of any covenant relating to the subject matter of the conveyance, shall not be chargeable, and shall be deemed not to have been chargeable, with any duty in respect of such further consideration.
(6) Where a sub-purchaser takes an actual conveyance of the interest of the person immediately selling to him, which is chargeable with ad valorem duty in respect of the consideration moving from him, and is duly stamped accordingly, any conveyance to be afterwards made to him of the same property by the original seller shall be chargeable only with such other duty as it may be liable to, but the last mentioned duty shall not ex- ceed the ad vaLorem duty.
Provided that this section shall not apply to a conveyance or transfer operating as a voluntary disposition of property to a body of persons incorporated by a special Act, if that body is by its Act precluded from dividing any profit among its members and the property conveyed is to be held for the purposes of an open space or for the purposes of its preservation for the benefit of Nigeria.
Provided that a conveyance or transfer made for effectuating the appointment of a new trustee or for effectuating the retirement of a trustee although no new trustee is ap- pointed, shall not be charged with any higher duty than one naira.
An instrument used for the purpose of assigning, transferring or in any manner nego- tiating the right to any marketable security, share or stock, shall, if the delivery thereof is by usage treated as sufficient for the purpose of a sale on the market, whether that deliv- ery constitutes a legal assignment, transferable on delivery or an instrument to bearer, as the case may be, and the delivery thereof an assignment, transfer or negotiation.
"policy of life insurance" means a policy of insurance upon any life or lives or upon any event or contingency relating to or depending upon any life or lives except a policy of insurance against accident;
(2) The payment of the penalty under subsection (l) of this section shall be certified on the face of the receipt under the hand of a commissioner.
(b) if in any such case, the instrument contains a statement of the said value, and is stamped in accordance with the statement, it shall, so far as regards the policy, be deemed duly stamped, unless or until it is shown that the statement is un- true, and that the instrument is in fact insufficiently stamped.
(3) The statement of the amount of any increase of registered capital which is re- quired to be delivered to the Corporate Affairs Commission under subsection (1) of this section shall be delivered duly stamped with the duty charged thereon within fifteen days after the passing of the resolution by which the registered capital is increased, and, in default of that delivery, the duty, with interest thereon at the rate of five per cent per an- num from the passing of the resolution, shall be a debt to the Government of the Federa- tion recoverable from the company.
(4) If any corporation, company or body of persons neglect to deliver a statement, or fails to pay the duty in compliance with the provisions of this section, that corporation, company or body of persons shall be liable to pay the Government of the Federation, in addition to the duty, a sum equal to ten per cent upon the amount of the duty, and a like sum for every month after the first month during which the neglect or failure continues.
(b) that the company (in this section referred to as "the transferee company") is to be registered or has been incorporated or has increased its capital with a view to the acquisition either of the undertaking of, or of not less than ninety per cent of the issued capital of, any particular existing company;
[Cap. C20.]
[L.N. 112 of 1964.]
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