NEC calls for withdrawal of Tinubu's Tax Reform Bills

The National Economic Council (NEC) has rejected the Tax Reform Bills forwarded by President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly.

The bill was forwarded to NASS based on the report and recommendations of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal and Tax Reforms set up by the President to help boost revenue generation in the country but on Thursday, October 31 the NEC unanimously called for the withdrawal of the bill.

The withdrawal decision was part of the resolutions reached during the National Economic Council meeting chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Thursday, October 31.

 Briefing State House Correspondents after the meeting, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State said NEC observed that adequate consultations needed to be made to get the views of stakeholders including the state governors to ensure that the law is favourable to all Nigerians.

“NEC today took a presentation from the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on fiscal policy and tax reforms. Their main focus is fair taxation, responsible borrowing, and sustainable spending,” he said.“The Council acknowledged that the country is underperforming on all indices as regards yield from major revenue sources, also tax to GDP ratio and so on.

“So after extensive deliberation, NEC noted the need for sufficient alignment between and amongst the stakeholders for the proposed reforms.

“So Council, therefore, recommend the need to withdraw the bill currently before the National Assembly on tax reforms so that we can have wider consultations and also build consensus around these reforms for the benefit of the entire country, and also to give people, for them to know the vision and where we are moving the country in terms of a tax reform because there’s really a lot of miscommunication, misinformation,” Governor Makinde said.

The move came days after the influential Northern Governors’ Forum rejected some of the proposals, particularly the VAT-sharing template in one of the bills.

“This is because companies remit VAT based on the location of their headquarters and tax office, rather than where the services and goods are consumed. In view of the foregoing, the forum unanimously rejects the proposed Tax Amendments and calls on members of the National Assembly to oppose any bill that could jeopardise the well-being of our people,” said Inuwa Yahaya, who also serves as the chairperson of the forum.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the Northern Governors’ Forum is not opposed to policies or programs aimed at fostering national growth and development. However, the forum calls for equity and fairness in implementing all national policies and programs to ensure that no geopolitical zone is short-changed or marginalized,” he said.