BREAKING: Senate passes two tax reform bills, rejects 7.5% VAT increase
The Senate has passed two of four critical tax reform bills tabled by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The two bills passed are the Nigeria Revenue Service Establishment Bill and the Joint Revenue Board Establishment Bill.
The bills were passed on Wednesday after the senate deliberated the report of an ad hoc committee chaired by Niger East Senator Sani Musa.
Two bills the senate has scheduled for consideration and passage on Thursday include the Nigeria Tax Administration bill and the Nigeria Tax bill.
Passage of two bills on Wednesday followed a clause-by-clause consideration of the bills in the committee of the whole and a third reading on the senate floor.
President Tinubu sent the bills to the senate as part of the moves to modernise and reform the nation’s tax system.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio received the news positively and said the reforms would firm up governance and improve the harvesting of revenue.
“These bills will add enormous value to governance and redefine how taxes are collected and shared in Nigeria,” Akpabio said.
He also said the senate is ready to extend its sitting to complete work on the pending bills.
“We are determined to complete the pending bills tomorrow, even if we have to stay here until 10 pm,” he added.
Besides the rejection of a proposal to raise the Value Added Tax (VAT) from 7.5 to 10 percent, the Akpabio who read out the resolutions stated that the senate also rejected the phasing out of allocations to some agencies.
The agencies are the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI).
“These government offices are very key to human capital and overall country economic development,” he stated further.
“Phasing out their budget will cause education to stalemate and the country losing opportunities for technological revolutions and innovations.”
Reactions
@JustVibesOnly
If na true say dem kill 7.5% VAT increase, I go toast zobo for my area. God bless small
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