Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed has said the proposed Finance Bill 2020 is aimed at offering tax incentives to Nigerians and not to increase taxes.
Mrs. Ahmed who disclosed this while briefing State House Correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, said the incremental changes referred to in the bill does not mean increasing taxes, but an improvement in the tax law, stressing that the country’s value added tax remains at 7.5 per cent.
According to Ahmed, “you recall that we did a Finance Bill in 2019, through these finance bills, what we are seeking to do is to make incremental changes to tax laws relating to customs excise as well as other fiscal laws, to support the implementation of annual budgets.”
“This is further expected to create more job opportunities in the automobile industry and stimulate economic growth,” the minister added.
Some highlights of the proposed bill include: “Reduction in duties on tractors from 35 to 10 per cent; Reduction in duties on motor vehicles for the transportation of goods from 35 to 10 per cent; Reduction of levy on motor vehicles for the transportation of persons (cars) from 35 per cent to 5 per cent.
“Exemption of small companies from payment of education tax under the Tertiary Education Trust fund (TETFUND)-companies with less than N25m turnover are eligible
“50 per cent reduction in minimum tax; from 0.5 per cent to 0.25 per cent for gross turnover for financial years ending between January 1st, 2020 and December 31st, 2021; Granting of tax relief to companies that donated to the COVID-19 relief fund under the private sector coalition (CACOVID).”