Business
Buhari sends Finance Bill to National Assembly for approval
President Muhammadu Buhari has dispatched the Finance Bill 2020 to the National Assembly for review and legislative assent.
Senate President Ahmad Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of the House of Representatives read the president’s letter to the two parliamentary arms on Tuesday at the opening of plenary.
The Finance Bill 2020 seeks modification to current tax framework as well as financial regulations in view of the weighty effects of the coronavirus pandemic and the new recession on the Nigerian economy.
“Pursuant to Sections 58 and 59 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), I formally request that the Finance Bill be considered by the Senate/House of Representatives for passage into law,” Buhari said in the letter.
Read also: NEWLY SIGNED FINANCE BILL: Winners, losers and projections for the Nigerian economy
“The Finance Bill, 2020, seeks to support the implementation of the 2021 budget by proposing key reforms to specific taxation, customs, excise, fiscal and other laws. Specifically, this bill’s provisions:
“Adopt appropriate counter-cyclical fiscal policies to respond to the economic and revenue challenges precipitated by the decline in international oil prices, as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Nigerian economy.”
The Finance Bill equally intends to tweak current fiscal policies towards playing up expansion in the economy, employment creation, local revenue generation and socio-economic advancement while enhancing better administration of monetary and trade strategies.
It also plans “fiscal relief for taxpayers by reducing the applicable minimum tax rate for two consecutive years of assessment, as well as reforming the commencement and cessation rules for small businesses,” Buhari said.
He expressed optimism that the legislation would find the approval of the legislature in order to aid the execution of the 2021 budget.
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...