By Abdullahi Muhammed
Sequel to its passing into law by the National Assembly in December last year, President Muhammadu Buhari Monday at the State House signed the 2020 Finance Bill into law.
The president had, while presenting the 2020 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly, also presented the Finance Bill, saying the “Finance Bill has five strategic objectives, in terms of achieving incremental, but necessary, changes to our 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.
“The draft Finance Bill proposes an increase of the VAT rate from five per cent to 7.5 per cent , as such, the 2020 Appropriation Bill is based on this new VAT rate,” he said.
With the assent, there would be more revenue to finance key government projects especially in the areas of health, education and critical infrastructure.