Business
NEW MINIMUM WAGE: No plan to increase VAT by 50%- FIRS
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on Wednesday dispelled reports of planned increment of Value Added Tax (VAT) by 50 per cent to meet up payment of the proposed new minimum wage.
Following the announcement of senate approval of 30,000 as the new minimum wage, there were reports of plans by the Federal Government to increase VAT by up to 50 per cent to raise funds for the implementation of the new minimum wage.
However, the Head, Communication and Servicom Department of FIRS, Wahab Gbadamosi, has discredited these claims through a statement in Abuja.
READ ALSO: Emefiele faults LCCI’s position on textile industry
The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Sen. Udo Udoma and Babatunde Fowler, FIRS Chairman, had appeared before Senate Committee on Finance at the 2019-2021 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper ((PSP) interactive meeting on Tuesday.
Gbadamosi explained that at the meeting, Fowler had called for an increase in the number of Nigerians and companies paying VAT and not a 50 per cent increase in VAT rate as reported.
Furthermore, he said that contrary to reports in the media, the FIRS Chairman called for a reduction in Companies Income Tax (CIT) rate for small businesses so as to improve compliance.
“Though he indicated that there should be an increase in VAT rate by the end of the year, he never for once suggested a 50 per cent hike of any percentage increase at all.
“Rather, he promised improved collection in CIT, Petroleum Profits Tax, PPT and VAT in 2019 relative to the collection performance of the Service in 2018,” he said.
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...