* As he signs Finance Bill 2020 into law
* Law provides more revenue to govt – Buhari
By Chesa Chesa
President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday raised the Value Added Tax (VAT) from 5% to 7.5%.
The action was taken at a ceremony which took place at the State House, Abuja, where he signed the 2020 Finance Bill into law.
President Buhari assented to the Bill without objections inspite of public outcry against the economic implications of increasing VAT by any dime.
His assenting to the Bill was sequel to its passage by the National Assembly and subsequent forwarding by the legislature to the President for assent, said a presidency statement.
While presenting the Finance Bill to the federal lawmakers late last year, Buhari had said: “This Finance Bill has five strategic objectives, in terms of achieving incremental, but necessary, changes to our fiscal laws.
“These objectives are; Promoting fiscal equity by mitigating instances of regressive taxation; Reforming domestic tax laws to align with global best practices; Introducing tax incentives for investments in infrastructure and capital markets; Supporting Micro, Small and Medium-sized businesses in line with our Ease of Doing Business Reforms; and Raising Revenues for Government.
“The draft Finance Bill proposes an increase of the VAT rate from five per cent to 7.5 per cent, as such; the 2020 Appropriation Bill is based on this new VAT rate”.
With the assent, there will be more revenue to finance key government projects especially in the areas of health, education and critical infrastructure, said presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, who issued the statement.
