President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday at the State House, Abuja signed into law the 2020 Finance Bill, thus raising the nation’s Value Added Tax from five percent to 7.5 percent.
This follows its passage last November by the National Assembly and subsequent forwarding by the legislature to the President for assent.
While presenting the 2020 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly, Buhari had also presented the Finance Bill, noting that “this Finance Bill has five 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; Supporting Micro, Small and Medium-sized businesses in line with our Ease of Doing Business Reforms; and Raising Revenues for Government.
“The draft Finance Bill proposes an increase of the VAT rate from five per cent to 7.5 per cent , as such, the 2020 Appropriation Bill is based on this new VAT rate,” he added.
A statement issued by presidential media adviser, Femi Adesina, on Monday, which announced the signing of the Bill, also noted that “with the assent, there will be more revenue to finance key government projects especially in the areas of health, education and critical infrastructure”.
