The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed for second reading of the four tax reform bills submitted by President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly without any opposition by members.
The bills included the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill, the Nigeria Tax Bill, the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill.
The four bills were read for the first time on the 8th of October 2024, but debate on the bills had been held back in the House due to disagreement by members on the content of the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill following objection by northern leaders and the Nigerian Governors Forum.
Although the House engaged government officials on the benefits of the bills, Speaker Abbas Tajudeen asked members to engage in wide consultations with their constituents before the debate on the bills.
Before the debate on Wednesday, the four bills were consolidated into one by the House for the debate.
Apart from some observations on certain areas of the three bills that tend to conflict with some sections of the Constitution and a few other clauses in the four bills, members unanimously spoke in favour of the passage of the bill for a second reading.
Minority Leader of the House, Kingsley Chinda who appeared to be speaking the mind of minorities said while they support the spirit behind the four bills, they have issues with some of the letters of the proposed laws.
Chinda said the bills seek to rejig the nation’s tax system for effective revenue generation, adding that for every law, there is the spirit of the letters.
The Rivers lawmaker said: “We have all agreed that the spirit behind the four bills is good. But we have issues with some of the letters of the bills. Why we oppose some letters of the bills, we support the spirit and want to assure Nigerians that we will watch those letters and at the appropriate time, we will ensure that the letters are corrected in the interest of Nigerians.”
He advocated the reduction in the Value Added Tax, saying it is possible to reduce tax, while efforts should be made to tidy up all areas of conflict.
Leading the debate on the bills House Leader, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere commended the President for having the courage to Institute the bills that address and reform the nation’s tax laws with a view to among others address issues of multiple tax, multiply revenue collection, and diversify the economy.
While appreciating those who held opposing views to the bills the House Leader said the opposing view helped strengthen the bills which aim to overhaul the tax system in the country as the oldest tax system in the world.
