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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s main Target with the new tax waivers is ” don’t tax production, tax consumptions”.
YOUNEWS is aware of their thinking that the reduced burden of taxes on manufacturers would translate to more stable prices of manufactured goods !
Himself and his economic team as well as finance experts in his kitchen cabinet firmly believe that Federal Government should continue to engage with stakeholders and implement policies that are business-friendly and promote sustainable economic growth.
They believe that the private sector is essential to achieving the government’s goal of higher GDP growth and reduced unemployment rate through job creation.
YOUNEWS learnt that the team is of the opinion that some of the problems identified with the tax changes include the 2017 National Tax Policy approved by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, prescribing a minimum of 90 days’ notice from the government to taxpayers before any tax changes can take effect.
A presidential aide, Dele Alake had explained that “This global practice is done with a view to giving taxpayers and businesses reasonable time to adjust to the new tax regime.
“However, both the Finance Act 2023 and the Customs, Excise Tariff Order 2023 did not give the required minimum notice period, thus putting businesses in violation of the new tax regime even before the changes were gazetted.
“As a result of this, many of the affected businesses are already contending with the rising costs, falling margins and capacity underutilization due to the various macroeconomic headwinds as well as the impact of the Naira redesign policy.”
He also noted the Excise Tax increase on tobacco products and alcoholic beverages were also being implemented.
Alake noted that the Green Taxes, including the Single Use Plastics tax and the Import Adjustment Levy on certain categories of vehicles, require more consultation and a holistic approach to Nigeria’s net zero plan in a way that does not hurt the economy.
Reacting to a question on whether the President’s action would affect the Petroleum Tax and if new taxes would be introduced, the Special Adviser on Revenue, Adedeji, said that the President’s intent is to lighten tax burdens, harmonise and manage existing taxes in the best interest of Nigerians.
“The pricing structure that you have for PMS today, all those have been included, there’s no new taxes that we’re bringing in.
“One of the key focus of this administration is to harmonise our taxes, the way we collect it. Mr. President actually wants to simplify and make it friendly to businesses, the way we operate taxes in Nigeria.
“As we know, when we talk about the revenue management, it’s not only in tax collection, the starting point is our economic policy because our aim is not to tax poverty. Our aim is not to tax production. Our aim is to increase our productive activities, capacity to produce, then we can tax our consumption and that is the direction of our economic planning,” Adedeji explained
