Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, Sen. Solomon Adeola has said that the Finance Bill was not only about Value Added Tax (VAT).
He said that it was a composite bill seeking amendment in seven Acts of the National Assembly with removal of taxes for some sectors in the economy contrary to popular sentiment about the executive bill being about increase in VAT.
Mr Kayode Odunaro, Media Adviser to Adeola made this known in a statement in Abuja on Sunday.
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He said that the bill targeted at reforming the tax regime would involve amendments of seven Acts of the Parliament; Petroleum Profit Tax, Customs 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 lot of ignorance and limited knowledge of the content and import of the Finance Bill.
” It is targeted at not only increase in revenue for the government but removing 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.
“Beyond the 2.5 per cent increase in the VAT, there are equally changes in the Value Added Tax Act 2004 that increase the number of items exempted from VAT to the extent that Nigeria may have the highest number of such exemptions in Africa and beyond.
“Also the amendment of the Company Income Tax Act if passed will favour Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) by reduction in applicable taxes with first four years robust incentives,” Adeola said.
Meanwhile, the public hearing on the bill is slated for Tuesday, 19.(NAN)
