The 2019 Finance Bill has been signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari. The President disclosed this on his Twitter handle.
I am pleased to announce that this morning I signed into Law the Finance Bill, 2019.
— Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) January 13, 2020
The Finance Bill, 2019 was presented alongside the 2020 Budget to a joint session of the National Assembly on 8 October 2019 by President Muhammadu Buhari. The Finance Bill has already been passed by the Senate.
What are the objectives of the Finance Bill? The Bill seeks to promote fiscal equity, align domestic laws with global best practices and support Micro, Small and Medium-sized businesses. Other goals include increasing government revenues and stakeholder investments in investment/capital market through the introduction of incentives.
Key Points of the Finance Bill 2019
*Small and Medium Scale Businesses with a turnover of up to ₦25 million will be exempted from Company Income Tax (CIT). Meanwhile, companies with a turnover greater than ₦25million and less than ₦100 million will 20% CIT and companies with a turnover greater than ₦100 million will pay 30% CIT.
*Introduction of early tax payment bonus. With the Finance Bill signed into law, taxpayers have now been offered incentives for early payment of their taxes. Taxpayers who pay their tax liability at least 90 days before due date would be entitled to a bonus of 2% and 1% of the tax paid for medium and large companies respectively.
*Banks to obtain tax identification number (TIN) from corporate customers Banks would now be required to obtain TIN from corporate customers as a pre-condition for opening or maintaining bank accounts.
*₦50 Stamp Duty on ₦10,000 transactions will now include electronic transactions. But, there is still the issue of who will be in charge of the collection of tax duty-NIPOST or FIRS.
*Increase in Value Added Tax (VAT) rate from 5% to 7.5%. This is straightforward VAT has been increased from 5% to 7.5%.
We introduced the Bill alongside the 2020 Budget, to:
-Reform Nigeria’s tax laws to align with global best practices;
-Support MSMEs in line with our Ease of Doing Business Reforms;
-Incentivize investments in infrastructure and capital markets;
-Raise Government revenues.— Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) January 13, 2020
For Buhari, the Finance Bill 2019 “Was introduced alongside the 2020 Budget, to -Reform Nigeria’s tax laws to align with global best practices; -Support MSMEs in line with our Ease of Doing Business Reforms; -Incentivize investments in infrastructure and capital markets; -Raise Government revenues.”
