Worried by the fear and concerns of the 19 Northern Governors about the provisions of the Tax Reform Bills now before the National Assembly for passage, the Presidency has debunked insinuations that the bill was targeted at the 19 northern states.
The governors of the 19 Northern states had issued a communiqué at the end of their joint meeting with Northern Traditional Rulers Council at Government House, Kaduna, rejected the bill, especially the proposed amendment to the distribution of Value Added Tax (VAT) to a derivation-based model.
However, in a statement on Thursday, Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, stated that the new provisions in the bill were aimed at creating a fairer fiscal regime for the benefit of all states.
Onanuga maintained that the ongoing tax reform was intended to correct the flaws in the current derivation model as a basis for distributing VAT revenue.
He clarified: “While we commend the Governors and traditional rulers for supporting President Bola Tinubu over the success recorded in addressing the country’s security challenges, we consider it necessary to address the misunderstandings and misgivings around the tax reform already embarked upon by the administration.”
According to the President’s spokesman, the new policy initiatives are aimed at streamlining Nigeria’s tax administration processes, enhancing efficiency and eliminating redundancies across the nation’s tax operations.
Onanuga stated that the reforms being proposed remained critical to improving the lives of Nigerians and were not put forward by President Tinubu to undermine any part of the country.
“President Tinubu and the Federal Executive Council recently endorsed new policy initiatives aimed at streamlining Nigeria’s tax administration processes, enhancing efficiency and eliminating redundancies across the nation’s tax operations.
“These reforms emerged after an extensive review of existing tax laws. The National Assembly is considering four executive bills designed to transform and modernise Nigeria’s tax landscape.
“First is the Nigeria Tax Bill, which aims to eliminate unintended multiple taxation and make Nigeria’s economy more competitive by simplifying tax obligations for businesses and individuals nationwide.
“Second, the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill (NTAB) proposes new rules governing the administration of all taxes in the country. Its objective is to harmonize tax administrative processes across federal, state and local jurisdictions for ease of compliance for taxpayers in all parts of the country.
“Third, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill seeks to rename the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) as the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) to better reflect the mandate of the Service as the revenue agency for the entire federation, not just the Federal Government.
“Fourth, the Joint Revenue Board Establishment Bill proposes the creation of a Joint Revenue Board to replace the Joint Tax Board, covering federal and all states’ tax authorities”, Onanuga stressed.
