Pascal Arogorn Ibe
The Federal Executive Council (FEC), presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday approved the Finance Bill 2020, to support the 2021 Budget.
Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, who disclosed this to State House Correspondents after the FEC meeting, explained the bill designed to bring about incremental changes in the nation’s tax laws.
The Minister, who briefed correspondents alongside some of her colleagues, however assured that the passage of the bill into law would not lead to increase in taxes in the country.
Explaining features of the bill, the Minister said the intent of the bill is to ease tax burdens on some categories of enterprises, especially small and medium enterprises.
She also pointed out that some taxes had already been reduced saying: “In the last Finance Bill 2019, we reduced taxes from 30 percent to 20 percent for enterprises that have turnover of between N25 to N100 million.”
Ahmed assured that the situation in the country does not warrant increase in taxes, saying: “This is not the time to increase taxes.”
The bill will soon be transmitted to the National Assembly for its consideration and passage into law.
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