No fewer than 80 operators of private jets are expected to appear at the headquarters of the NCS in Abuja with their aircraft import documents.
The special aircraft import verification exercise, which begins on Wednesday (tomorrow), is expected to last for 30 days, according to a public notice issued by Customs.
According to the notice, owners and operators of private jets in the country are to come with some relevant documents.
These include aircraft Certificate of Registration,
Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority’s Flight Operation Compliance Certificate,
NCAA’s Maintenance Compliance Certificate,
NCAA’s Permit for Non-Commercial Flights, and Temporary Import Permit (if applicable).
Many private aircraft operators in the country have allegedly explored technical loopholes in the regulation to fraudulently obtain a Temporary Import Permit from the Nigeria Customs Service instead of paying the statutory import duty on their imported aircraft.
The TIP, which is valid for an initial period of 12 months, can be extended by six months twice, according to the regulations.
However, several operators of private jets in the country have continued to extend the TIP indefinitely, a development that prompted the Customs to effect past clampdowns.
The exercise is expected to lead to the payment of the mandatory import duty, while aircraft operators who fail to pay may have their jets grounded.
The TIP has been described by some stakeholders as a fraudulent means of evading the mandatory import duty.
Importers of private jets, especially foreign registered private jets, are expected to pay five per cent of the value of the private jet as import duty.
However, due to the high cost of private jets, some owners often prefer not to pay the import, according to Customs officials.
Instead, the operators prefer to obtain a TIP under the guise that the aircraft is coming into the country for a temporary period, quoting the International Civil Aviation Organisation Convention Article 24 which focuses on Customs waiver for commercial aircraft operating in a country temporarily.
Unconfirmed sources said the government might get close to N100bn in unpaid import duty on imported private aircraft due to the high exchange rate.
This analysis is however dependent on whether the Customs chooses to implement the 25 per cent penalty fee such aircraft owners are meant to pay for delayed payment. The 25 per cent penalty fee is in addition to the statutory five per cent import duty.
Meanwhile, National Public Relations Officer, NCS, Abdullahi Maiwada, on Monday, confirmed the verification exercise, which is scheduled to begin on Wednesday.
“All we are doing is to ensure maximum revenue collection for the Federal Government. Relevant sections of our extant laws and regulations will guide our actions and inaction during and after the exercise.”
Oftentimes, Nigerians and corporate bodies buy their foreign-registered private jets through foreign shell companies and trustees.
Experts believe Nigerians prefer to register their jets in foreign countries like the United States, United Kingdom, and Isle of Man, among others, to preserve the value of the aircraft in the event they want to sell it. This also helps them to pay cheaper insurance premiums.
The 17 applicants, which are mostly foreign companies of the Nigerian jet owners are Aircraft Trust and Financing Corp Trustee, UAML Corp, Bank of Utah Trustee, Masterjet AVIACAO Executive SA, and Cloud Services Limited.
Others are MHS Aviation GmbH, Murano Trust Company Limited, Panther Jets, SAIB LLC, Empire Aviation Group, and Osa Aviation Limited.
The list also includes BUA Delaware Inc., Flying Bull Corporation Limited, Air Charter Inc., Sparfell Luftahrt GmbH, WAT Aviation Limited, and ATT Aviation Limited.
The NCS had in 2021 embarked on a review of import duties paid on private jets brought into the country since 2006.
Following the alleged discovery that several private jet owners, under the guise of Temporary Import Permit, had failed to pay the statutory import duty to the coffers of the government, the then CG of Customs, Hameed Ali, set up a verification panel to review all TIPs and the relevant aircraft import documents of all private jets in the country.
At the end of the 60-day exercise, 57 private jets, which had licences for commercial charter operations, were cleared and issued Aircraft Operators Certificates by the Customs.
However, 29 private jets, whose owners came for the verification, were found to be liable to pay the import duty.
The Customs also compiled a list of another 62 private jets whose owners failed to appear for the verification exercise but were found liable for import duty payment.
However, other private jet owners seeking to pay their import duty were given a 14-day ultimatum to clear the debts.
The number of jet owners who later paid the duty is still unclear. It is still unclear to what extent the new management of Customs is willing to get the powerful private jet owners to pay their import duty.