Federal Executive Council Approves Finance Bill 2020 to Support 2021 Budget

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the Finance Bill 2020 on Wednesday to support the 2021 budget.

According to the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, who spoke with State House Correspondents after the meeting, the new bill will improve existing tax laws and bring about incremental changes.

She, however, stated that the approval or passage of the bill into law would not increase taxes in Nigeria or worsen things for the hard-working people of Nigeria.

Explaining some of the key adjustments made to the bill, she said the bill was developed to ease tax burdens on small and medium businesses.

She also noted that some taxes had already been reduced, adding that “In the last Finance Bill 2019, we reduced taxes from 30 percent to 20 percent for enterprises that have turnover of between N25 to N100 million.”

Ahmed added the new bill does not seek to increase tax as the present economic situation does not warrant an increase in taxes.

“This is not the time to increase taxes,” she stated.