Mrs. Zainab
Ahmed, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning announced on
Thursday 16th January that the increased VAT from 5 to 7.5% will take effect
from 1st February 2020.
The minister
who made this revelation at the inauguration of the Chairman and Board members
of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in Abuja.
She said;
“I want to
state that one of the key provisions in the finance act 2019 that have elicited
a lot of interest is the increase in the VAT from 5% to 7.5%, and to remind us
all, the finance bill has made copious provisions to improve the ease of doing
business; so we have a category of companies that have turnover of 25% and
below that will be paying no taxes at all, and also we have reduced tax rates
for companies that have turnover from 25 million to 100 million from 30% to
30%.
“The essence
of this is to encourage formalization of businesses from the informal sector
and also to encourage businesses to grow and become more productive, thereby
increasing employment and also meeting the commitment of Mr. President to
remove 100 million Nigerians out of poverty over the next 10 years.
“The
effective date for the VAT increase from 5-7.5% will be the 1st of February
2020.”