President Muhammadu Buhari has written to the Senate and House of Representatives seeking amendments to the Finance Act 2019 passed by the National Assembly recently.
The President of the Senate Ahmed Lawan and Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila read the letter during their plenary sessions on Tuesday.
Buhari wants the legislators to amend the Act to exempt animal feed from the list of items that will attract payment of the Value Added Tax.
He also said the aspects of the existing tax holiday incentive for agriculture should be targeted at small and medium-sized companies, adding that such firms should be those investing in primary crop, livestock, forestry and fishing.
According to the President, the bill seeks to make February 1 the effective date for the implementation of the increase in the Value Added Tax from five per cent to 7.5 per cent.
The letter read, “Pursuant to Sections 58 and 59 of Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria1 1999 (as amended), I formally request that the Finance Act 2019 (Amendment) Bill be considered by the Senate, for passage into law.
“This bill seeks to amend the Finance Act 2019, as recently passed by the National Assembly by clarifying:
“That the administrative effective date for the increase in the Value Added Tax from five per cent to 7.5% is February 1, 2020.
“That ‘animal feeds’ are included in the list of basic food items that are exempt from the Value Added Tax; and aspects of the tax holiday incentive for agriculture, by targeting this incentive to small and medium-sized companies that invest in a primary crop, livestock, forestry, and fishing agricultural production.
“This incentive is also to be administered by the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission pursuant to the Industrial Development (Income Tax Relief) Act.
“I trust that this bill will be favourably considered for passage into law by the National Assembly, so as to support the implementation of the 2020 budget.”
