Reps pass tax reform bills

ICIR NIGERIA 

THE House of Representatives on Tuesday, March 18, passed the four  transmitted to it by President Bola Tinubu in October 2024.

The passage followed the House consideration and approval of its Committee on Finance report on the bills submitted on Thursday, March 13.

The committee had adjusted some sections of the bills and made recommendations to the House for review and approval.

The ICIR reported that the Green Chamber, upon receipt of the committee’s report, adopted the controversial bills as a working document.

Part of the contentious issues included the provisions on inheritance tax, value-added tax (VAT) rate and distribution formula.

Other contentious issues also include the clause on continuous funding of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), and National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) from the development levies fund.

The ICIR reports that Tinubu had in October 2024 transmitted the tax reform bills to the National Assembly.

The bills include the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment Bill), the Joint Revenue Board Bill, and the Nigeria Tax Bill.

The bills generated a lot of controversies, resentments, and scepticism in the public space and among stakeholders, groups, and individuals, which later led to wider consultations and discussions among various interest groups at various levels, many of whom made submissions at a public hearing in the National Assembly.

But during its committee’s clause-by-clause consideration of the bills, it adjusted some of the clauses…