News
2.5% VAT increase won’t affect ordinary Nigerians —Lawan
The recent upward review of the Value Added Tax (VAT) rate from 5% to 7.5%, which implementation is timed to take effect from 1st February, will not affect ordinary Nigerians, Ahmed Lawan, the President of the Senate, has said.
Lawan affirmed that the increase was only applicable to luxury goods and, by implication, would not hamper the purchasing power of average Nigerians.
Mr Lawan made the disclosure Monday when asked to shed light on the buffers the National Assembly expected the Federal Government to provide in order to cushion the effects of the tax hike on the purchasing power of Nigerians.
Read also: NSE: Unilever, Julius Berger lead losers as index sheds 0.26%
In his words, “the 2. 5 per cent increment in VAT does not include items that ordinary Nigerians normally use.
“Many of the items that would now have additional 2.5 per cent increment are luxury items that ordinary Nigerians don’t use.”
The Senate President remarked that Nigeria required more resources to deliver basic facilities needed by average citizens.
Luxury goods in Nigeria include champagne, beers, exotic cars, cosmetics/fragrances, watches, jewellery, luggage/handbags, designer clothing, large residences/urban mansions, gadgets, yachts/other vessels used for pleasure among others.
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...