Despite the negative reactions trailing the passage of the
Finance Bill, the National Assembly is bent on holding a joint public hearing
on the bill tomorrow.
According to Punch, many financial experts have expressed
their discomfort towards the bill that could see a spike in Value Added Tax,
(VAT) Company Income Tax and other taxes.
The Details: However, Solomon Adeola, Chairman, Senate
Committee on Finance said the bill is not about increment in VAT but other
things like the amendment of seven acts of the National Assembly as well as the
removal of taxes for some sectors in the economy.
Adeola noted that the deliberation would comprise of Senate
and House of Representatives Committees on Finance. He urged concerned parties
to be ready to air their views on the bill.
“The bill is targeted at reforming our tax regime and will
involve amendments of seven Acts of the Parliament namely; Petroleum Profit
Tax, Custom and Excise Tariff Act, Company Income Tax Act, Personal Income Tax
Act, Value Added Tax, Stamp Duties Act and Capital Gain Tax.
“Studying the executive bill that was referred to my
committee after passing second reading on the floor of the senate, I realised
that there are a lot of ignorance and limited knowledge of the content and
import of the Finance Bill.
“It is not only meant to increase revenue for the government
but to also remove some conflicting and confusing aspects of our laws that had
given rise to legal disputations in the past leading to huge loses of revenue
for government,” he said.
What you should know: The Finance Bill was presented to the
joint session of the National Assembly on October 14 2019
The President forwarded the Finance Bill 2019 for passage
into law in pursuant to Sections 58 and 59 of the Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
The Finance Bill has four strategic objectives, in terms of
achieving incremental but necessary changes to our fiscal laws. These
objectives are:
promoting fiscal equity by mitigating instances of
regressive taxation;
reforming domestic tax laws to align with global best
practices;
introducing tax incentives for investments in infrastructure
and capital markets; and
supporting Micro, Small and Medium-sized businesses in line
with our Ease of Doing Business Reforms.
