Governors Back Tax Reform Bills, Seek Adjustment to VAT
The debate on the Value Added Tax (VAT) components of the Tax Reforms Bills shifted to the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) yesterday.
The governors, who backed the four bills presented to the National Assembly by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, proposed some adjustments “to ensure equitable distribution of resources”.
The VAT-sharing formula suggested by the governors is 50 per cent for equality, 30 per cent for derivation and 20 per cent for population.
The NGF proposal contradicts the Federal Government’s 20 per cent for equality, 60 per cent for derivation and 20 per cent for population contained in the bills.
At the NGF meeting held at Congress Hall, Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, chaired by Governor AbdulRahaman AbdulRazaq (Kwara), the governors said the adjustments, if adopted, would ensure equitable distribution of resources.
Representatives of non-partisan, pan-Nigerian civil society organisations, including youth and student groups from across the seven states of Northwest Nigeria, at a symposium at Arewa House, Kaduna expressed their support for the proposed tax reforms bills.
A communique read at the end of the symposium by Comrade Hamza, National Coordinator of Nigeria First Project Initiative; Comrade Bishir Dauda Katsina, National Secretary of the Muryar Talaka Awareness Initiative and Sadi Garba, Coordinator of the Coalition of Northern Nigerian Students Forum, said the symposium was organised in response to the ongoing debates surrounding the tax reform bills.
