By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A Nigerian tax expert, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, has advised Federal Government to exempt owners of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from the payment of Value Added Tax (VAT).
He gave this suggestion while reacting to the VAT exemption given to SMEs owners in the United Arabs Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia by their respective governments.
Mr Oyedele is an author, a public analyst and thought leader on economic, accounting and tax matters.
He is also the Head of Tax and Regulatory Services at PwC Nigeria as well as West Africa Market Tax Leader.
“As part of measures to diversify revenue, the UAE and Saudi Arabia have both introduced a new VAT regime effective from January 1, 2018, with a headline rate of 5 percent.
“SMEs with turnover under N37 million in UAE or N100 million in Saudi are exempted. (The) time (is ripe) for Nigeria to introduce VAT exemption for SMEs (in the country),” Mr Oyedele stated via his Twitter handle on Tuesday.
At the moment, sectors enjoying VAT exemptions are medicals, agriculture, publishing, education (educational materials), and baby products, amongst others.
Adedapo Adesanya