Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, on Friday confirmed that government’s fiscal measure relating to the administration of Excise Duties on carbonated drinks would start in January 2022
The minister, who gave this hint during the ‘Public Presentation and Breakdown of the Highlights of the 2022 Appropriation Bill’, said the imposition of the duties on the affected drinks would be part of the revenue options to be explored by the government to boost Nigeria’s non-oil revenues as provided for in the Finance Act 2021.
The Minister explained that the introduction of the duties would based on the provisions of the 2021 Finance Act and that all parties involved in the exercise are expected to finish the draft by the end of October, while the bill will be sent to the legislators for passage.
Ahmed further clarified: “Yesterday what was presented was the Federal Government budget along with the budget of 63 government owned enterprises, the Finance Bill work we are doing is not yet complete and will be completed within the month of October, hopefully by November we can send that to the National Assembly.
“To further enhance independent revenue generation, government aims to optimise the operational efficiencies and revenue generation focus of the government owned enterprises.
“The introduction of new and further increases in existing pro-health taxes for example exercise duties on carbonated drinks- this is work in progress but it will happen in the 2021 Finance Act.
“Government’s revenue performance and remittances will become enhanced through effective implementation of the performance management framework, including possible sanctions should their be default on targets that are set for government owned enterprises.
“The Finance Bill 2021 will contain measures that will further advance the implementation of the Strategic Revenue Growth Initiative (SRGI)”, the minister added.
It would be recalled that the minister had generated the debate of taxing carbonated drinks in 2019 when she said government was considering to implement the initiative at a World Bank/International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington DC, United States.
