Nigeria’s finance bill 2020, on Wednesday, passed for second reading in the senate, as it seeks to amend the Capital Gains Tax Act, Companies Income Tax, Personal Income Tax, Tertiary Education Trust Fund establishment Act among others.
Senate Leader, Abddullahi Yahaya, while leading debate on the general principles of the bill said the bill among other objectives seeks to reform extant fiscal policies to respond to the economic and revenue challenges caused by the decline in international oil prices and COVID-19 pandemic.
He said the bill also seeks to reform extant fiscal policies to prioritise job creation, economic growth, socio-economic development, domestic revenue mobilisation to foster closer coordination with monetary and trade policies.
According to senator Yahaya, the bill also seeks to provide fiscal relief for taxpayers by reducing the applicable minimum tax rate for two consecutive years of assessment and also reform commencement and cessation rules for small businesses.
It seeks to provide a boost to small and medium scale enterprises by reducing their tax burden. The bill when passed & assented to also seeks to replace existing tax incentives with more targeted incentives to stimulate economic activities in the capital market and infrastructure sectors.
According to him, if the Nigerian government was determined to generate sufficient revenue to finance its numerous projects steps taken should include devising ingenious means of expanding the tax base and collection of tax effectively.
In his contribution during the debate, Senator Yusuf Abubakar Yusuf advocated the use of tax reform as a means of diversification of the economy and promotion of the local industry.
Five other bills were also read for the first time on Wednesday including the finance bill 2020 which later passed for the second reading.
Nnenna.O
