The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has disclosed that the implementation of Value Added Tax (VAT) increase from five per cent to 7.5 per cent will take effect from Feb. 1.
Ahmed said this during the inauguration of the Chairman and Board members of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in Abuja on Thursday.
“We planned that going forward, the annual budget will always be accompanied by Finance Bills to enable the realisation of revenue projections.
“Future Finance Bills will, therefore, provide us with additional opportunities to incrementally improve the fiscal policy and regulatory and legal environment.
“This is in order to further strengthen our domestic capital market, and ultimately ensure sustained and inclusive growth and development,” she said.
The minister recalled that the Finance Act had also taken care of essential palliatives to support Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and mitigate the impact of VAT rate increase on the most vulnerable businesses, communities and citizens in the economy.