Commissioner For Insurance Mr O S Thomas, says the National Insurance Commission will at all-times extend full support to all stakeholders in the industry “in their drive for business growth and development.”
Thomas said this pledge has become the trade mark of NAICOM, and qualified it, saying: “The Commission is open to new reforms and initiatives in line with international best practices that will strengthen our institutions.”
NAICOM helmsman who said this as part of his goodwill message at the NCRIB CEOs Retreat 2020, said the Commission would always take keen interest in the deliberations and subsequent outcomes of the gathering.
Assertive Thomas said, “Some of your past retreat have contributed to shaping certain regulations and policies of the Commission.”
Charging them further, he said, “As intermediaries, business sincerity and customers’ satisfaction must be centralto your core business principles.”
While endorsing the theme “X-Raying the Finance Act 2020” NAICOM CEO identified the obnoxious provisions in the previous tax laws which were quite stringent on insurance operators, these included double taxation by taxing investment income and policyholders’ funds; it also allowed tax losses to be carried forward only for a maximum of 4 days of assessment contrary to what was obtainable in other businesses.
Other moribund stringent tax laws made tax deductible claims and other outgoings limited to 25% of total premium for general business, in contrast to what was obtainable in other businesses; besides, it did not allow a full tax deduction on unexpired risk provision in relation to the financial year.
On the “new normal” established by the pandemic, he said the insurance industry should be ready for post Covid-19 era, impressing on them that “the demands of the insuring public will require sound work ethics for us to optimise performance.”
