FG to Announce Finance Bill Implementation Date Soon

 By Adedapo Adesanya

Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has said that the date for the implementation of the recently signed Finance Bill would be made known to Nigerians soon.

A statement issued by the Minister’s aide, Mr Yinusa Abdullahi, on Tuesday described the bill as people-friendly because the basic needs of people have been exempted from the 7.5 percent VAT increase.

“The strategic objectives in the finance bill recognises the crucial relationship between fiscal policy, the regulatory environment and the strong capital market we all seek to effect in Nigeria,” the statement read in part.

According to Mrs Ahmed, annual budgets being presented before the National Assembly in the future will be accompanied by a finance bill to help meet revenue projections.

The Finance Bill 2019 will also help to reform the country’s tax laws, aligning them with global best practices, support MSMEs, encourage investments in infrastructure and capital markets, and increase revenue for the government, she stated.

“It will provide us with additional opportunities to incrementally improve the fiscal policy and regulatory/legal environment in order to further strengthen our domestic capital market, and ultimately ensure sustained and inclusive growth and development,” the Minister said.

She further said a large amount of the money that would be realised from the increased VAT would be disbursed to states and local governments to help fund the necessary infrastructure.

President Muhammadu Buhari signed the finance bill into law on Monday, amending parts of the company income tax act, value-added tax act, personal income tax act. The new bill will see that companies with revenues less than N25 million no longer paying the requires company income tax (CIT).

While for medium scale businesses with revenues between N25 million and N100 million, a 20 percent CIT will be required, instead of the standard 30 percent which will now only be for large scale companies with revenues above N100 million.