The Leader of the Senate, Yahaya Abdullahi, in his lead debate said the bill proposed amendments into Capital Gains Act and the Value Added Tax.
He said the penalties were increased from N5,000 to N50,000 in the first month and N25,000 in subsequent months. The senator said Section 36 of the Capital Gains Tax Act was being amended to increase compensation for loss of office which was hitherto limited to N10,000 to N10m. The Senate Leader added that Section 49 of the Personal Income Tax Act was being amended to stipulate that the mandatory requirement for tax identification number was for accounts being operated for purposes of business transactions.
He said, “It is imperative that the Nigerian tax legislation is updated frequently to respond to the challenges of today’s business environment which therefore underscores the importance of the Finance Bill 2020.“The Finance Bill contains several long awaited changes to the tax framework which seeks to address issues of low tax revenue growth, such as an increase in the VAT rate and the introduction of tighter deductibility rules.