North rejects Tinubu’s VAT plan

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Leaders from the North comprising of nineteen governors and traditional rulers have expressed displeasure at President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Tax Reform Bill under consideration in the National Assembly.

The President recently sent an Executive Tax Reform Bill to the National Assembly for consideration and passage in which it proposed to increase Value Added Tax on luxury items from 7.5 percent to 15 per cent

The proposal which would become effective January 1, 2025 seeks to tax the upper class more than the middle and lower classes, and also wants distribution of revenue generated through by federal government VAT to be on the basis of derivatives.

The latter’s proposal, however, didn’t sit well with northern leaders who issued a communique, resolutions of a meeting they held in Kaduna.

Read by Northern Governors’ Forum Chairman and Gombe State Governor Inuwa Yahaya, the statement is as follows: “Forum notes with dismay the content of the recent Tax Reform Bill that was forwarded to the National Assembly.

“The contents of the Bill are against the interests of the North and other sub-nationals especially the proposed amendment to the distribution of VAT to a derivation-based model.

“This is because companies remit VAT using the location of their headquarters and tax office and not where the services and goods are consumed.

“In view of the foregoing, the Forum unanimously rejects the proposed Tax Amendments and calls on members of the National Assembly to oppose any bill that can jeopardise the well-being of our people.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the Northern Governors Forum is not averse to any policies or programmes that will ensure the growth and development of the country.

“However, the Forum calls for equity and fairness in the implementation of all national policies and programmes to ensure that no geopolitical zone is short-changed or marginalised.”

In attendance were governors Uba Sani (Kaduna), Babagana Zulum (Borno), AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (Kwara), Dauda Lawa (Zamfara), Bala Mohammed (Bauchi), Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa), and Ahmadu Fintiri (Adamawa).

Also present were the Sultan Abubakar III; Shehu of Borno, Umar El-Kanemi; Emir of Zazzau, Ahmad Nuhu Bamali; Ohinoyi of Ebira land, Alhaji Ahmad Tijani; Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar; Emir of Kazaure, Najib Husaini Adamu, and Emir of Bauchi, among others.

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