Leadnaija
The National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA) has urged President Bola Tinubu’s administration to prioritise tax reforms, including reducing corporate tax rates to 19% and maintaining Value Added Tax (VAT) at 7.5%.
This was disclosed in a statement signed by Dele Kelvin Oye, the association’s national president. NACCIMA argued that these adjustments would stimulate economic growth and lead to increased tax revenues for the government.
“We believe corporate taxes should be further reduced to 19% and VAT pegged at 7.5%. We believe this will grow the economy and result in higher tax revenues for the government. As a caveat to protect government revenues, each taxpayer must not pay less than the preceding tax year,” the statement read.
The current tax reform bills before the National Assembly propose a gradual increase in VAT rates, starting from 10% in 2025 to 12.5% (2026–2029) and reaching 15% by 2030. NACCIMA has expressed concerns over these plans, suggesting that maintaining the current VAT rate would better serve economic and fiscal stability.
Oye also criticised the public disputes between federal and state governments over revenue sharing, noting that these disagreements often ignore the fundamental interests of taxpayers.
“The current media engagement between federal and state governments in newspaper and press releases only further confirms the disconnect described above,” Oye said. “The beneficiary parties receiving taxpayer funds engage each other on how to secure a larger portion of taxpayer funds without consideration for the public or taxpayer interest.”
Highlighting the contributions of sectors like telecommunications to government revenues, Oye called for targeted reforms to unlock their growth and revenue potential.
“Significant taxpayers like the telecommunications sector, who require reforms that will result in increased tax revenues, should not be ignored,” he said.
NACCIMA also called for meaningful private sector inclusion in tax reform discussions, encompassing aviation, telecommunications, manufacturing, and operators in Free Trade Zones. The association criticized the current approach of relying on committees that merely “lecture taxpayers” without yielding actionable results.
“There must be real dialogue with genuine concessions to be made by all parties. The private sector—aviation, telecommunications, manufacturers, Free Trade Zones, and other stakeholders—must be engaged in written communication. Committees that come to lecture taxpayers are not giving positive outcomes,” the statement added.
NACCIMA suggested forwarding the outcomes of such engagements to the National Assembly through the office of the Attorney General, as directed by the President, for better coordination.Don’t Miss Out! READ FULL ARTICLES
