President Muhammadu Buhari has signed the 2020 Finance Bill into law, signalling the beginning of a new Value Added Tax (VAT) regime of 7.5 percent.
A statement by the special adviser to the President on media and publicity, Femi Adesina said that the President signed the Bill today, January 13.
The nation’s Value Added Tax used to be five percent before now.
The statement said that the 2020 Appropriation Bill as passed by the National Assembly was based on the new VAT rate of 7.5 percent.
“With the assent (of the President to the new Bill), there will be more revenue to finance key government projects, especially in the areas of health, education and critical infrastructure.
The National Assembly had earlier passed the Bill and forwarded same to the President for assent.
President Buhari had, while presenting the 2020 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly, presented the Finance Bill.
The President said then that the Finance Bill had five strategic objectives, in terms of achieving incremental, but necessary, changes to the nation’s 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.
