DAILY TRUST
President Bola Tinubu has kicked against the recommendation of the National Economic Council (NEC) to withdraw the tax reform bills generating controversy.
At the 144th meeting of the NEC, presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima, the council recommended the withdrawal of the bills.
The recommendation came after governors of the 19 northern states, who met in Kaduna on Monday, alongside prominent traditional rulers from the region, resolved, among others, to reject the Nigeria Tax Reform Bill.
In a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, the northern governors and monarchs decried the contents of the recent Tax Reform Bill, saying they were against the interests of the North and other sub-nationals, especially the proposed amendment to the distribution of the Value Added Tax (VAT).
President Tinubu had on September 3, transmitted four tax reform bills to the National Assembly for consideration.
Tinubu, who was on vacation in London at the time, sent the bills via a letter addressed to the Speaker of the House, Abbas Tajudeen. The letter was read on the floor of the House during plenary that day.
The bills are the Nigeria Tax Bill 2024, which is expected to provide the fiscal framework for taxation in the country, and the Tax Administration Bill, which will provide a clear and concise legal framework for all taxes in the country and reduce disputes.
The others are the Nigeria Revenue Service Establishment Bill, which will repeal the Federal Inland Revenue Service Act and establish the Nigeria Revenue Service, and the Joint Revenue Board Establishment Bill, which will create a tax tribunal and a tax ombudsman.
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