House Of Reps Passes Finance Bill

The House of Representatives has passed the 2019 finance
bill.

This comes one week after the Senate approved the piece of
legislature sent by the executive.

Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning,
Zainab Ahmed, had told a gathering at financial analysis firm, PWC,
on Wednesday that the provisions of the bill will come into effect
on January 2, 2020.

The intent of the bill is to overhaul the country’s tax
provisions and raise more revenue for the government.

The acts that would be affected by the new law include the
Companies Income Tax Act, Value Added Tax Act, Petroleum Profits
Tax Act, Personal Income Tax Act, Capital Gains Tax Act, Customs
and Excise Tariff Etc. (Consolidation) Act and Stamp Duties
Act.

The next step will be for a harmonised version of the clauses
passed by both houses to be sent to President Muhammadu Buhari.

Nigerians have so far been reacting to the Stamp Duty act and
the VAT act.

Reports emerged in September that the government planned to
increase VAT from its present rate of five per cent to 7.2 per
cent.

The government soon clarified its stance, saying it had
heightened the rate to 7.5 per cent.

This was followed by the Central Bank of Nigeria issuing a
circular directing all merchants to unbundle stamp duties and pay
N50 per every transaction worth N1,000.

According to reports, the Senate’s version of the finance bill
proposes that the lowest unit on which stamp duty should be charge
be increased to N10,000.