President Buhari seeks amendment to Finance Act
President Buhari seeks amendment to Finance Act
President Buhari seeks amendment to Finance Act
President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria President, Muhammadu Buhari, has  written to  the Senate and House of Representatives  seeking amendments to the Finance Act 2019 passed by the National Assembly  recently.

The President of the Senate Ahmed Lawan and Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila read the letter  during their plenary sessions on Tuesday.

Buhari wants the legislators to amend the Act  to  exempt animal feed from the list of items that will attract payment of the Value Added Tax.

He also said the  aspects of the existing tax holiday incentive for agriculture should be targeted at small and medium-sized companies, adding that such firms should be those investing in primary crop, livestock, forestry and fishing.

According to the President,  the bill seeks to make February 1  the effective date  for  the implementation of the increase in the Value Added Tax from five per cent to  7.5 per cent.

The letter read,  “Pursuant to Sections 58 and 59 of Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria1 1999 (as amended), I formally request that the Finance Act 2019 (Amendment) Bill be considered by the Senate, for passage into law.

 “This bill seeks to amend the Finance Act 2019, as recently passed by the National Assembly by clarifying:

“That the administrative effective date for the increase in  the Value Added Tax from  five per cent  to 7.5% is February  1, 2020.

 “That ‘animal feeds’ are  included in the list of basic food items that are exempt from  the Value Added Tax; and aspects of the tax holiday incentive for agriculture, by targeting this incentive to small and medium-sized companies that invest in a primary crop, livestock, forestry, and fishing agricultural production.

“This incentive is also to be administered by the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission pursuant to the Industrial Development (Income Tax Relief) Act.

“I trust that this bill will be favourably considered for passage into law by the National Assembly, so as to support the implementation of the 2020  budget.”

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