President Bola Tinubu has asked the Senate to make the tax reform bills pending before the National Assembly implementable for him.
The bills are the Nigeria Tax Bill 2024, the Nigerian Tax Administration Bill 2024, the Nigeria Revenue Service Establishment Bill 2024, and the Joint Revenue Board Bill 2024.
The president’s request for workable tax laws was disclosed by the Senate committee chairman on finance, Senator Sani Musa.
Musa said, “I met President Bola Ahmed Tinubu two days ago on the tax reform bills and he told me that Mr Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, should go and do the needful.
“Give me a law that is workable from the tax reform bills I forwarded to the Senate and the House of Representatives in October last year.
“That request by Mr President came at a very auspicious time for this public hearing on the tax reform bills, which are not meant to add a burden to any section of the country or give undue advantage to any section as well.”
There was no opposition to the bills during the public hearing as the various stakeholders threw their weight behind the bills.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, said the proposed laws are not aimed at taxing poverty but prosperity.
“The tax reform bills, as repeatedly explained at different fora since their introduction last year, are for the modernisation of our archaic tax laws towards effecting efficiency, equity and economic growth,” he said.
Making similar submissions, the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, said the entire oil and gas industry is well disposed to the reforms.
“The proposed tax reform bills to us in NNPCL, are very necessary enhancement of growth of the economy through more efficient and effective tax collection mechanism.
“As the largest taxpayer in Nigeria, NNPCL has studied the reform bills and found the proposals to be reasonable and necessary,” he said.
Also, the chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Mohammed Shehu, who opposed the bills earlier, declared support for the proposed reforms.
Shehu said, “RMAFC is in support of the proposed tax reform but wants adjustments in the area of Value Added Tax (VAT) distribution to subnationals.
“We hope that the proposed reforms will address the issue of endless revenue remittance reconciliation with NNPCL and others.”
The chairman of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Victor Muruako, said the proposed reforms are in tandem with the spirit and letters of the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007.