President Muhammadu Buhari has signed into the finance bill, 2019 into law this morning. This announcement was made on the President’s personal Twitter handle.
I am pleased to announce that this morning I signed into Law the Finance Bill, 2019.
— Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) January 13, 2020This is sequel to its passage by the National Assembly and subsequent forwarding by the legislature to the President for assent.
President Buhari, while presenting the 2020 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly, had also presented the Finance Bill and noted that the Bill has five strategic objectives in terms of achieving incremental, but necessary changes to Nigeria’s fiscal laws.
We introduced the Bill alongside the 2020 Budget, to:
-Reform Nigeria’s tax laws to align with global best practices;
-Support MSMEs in line with our Ease of Doing Business Reforms;
-Incentivize investments in infrastructure and capital markets;
-Raise Government revenues.
— Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) January 13, 2020These 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 market, Supporting Micro, Small and Medium-sized businesses in line with our Ease of Doing Business Reforms, and Raising Revenues for Government.
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The draft Finance Bill proposed an increase of the VAT rate from 5 per cent to 7.5 per cent , as such, the 2020 Appropriation Bill is based on this new VAT rate.
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, with the assent, there would be more revenue to finance key government projects especially in the areas of health, education, and critical infrastructure.
