Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, has clarified that the recommendation is in respect of Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue, not the overall FAAC allocation.
While reacting to a report published by an online news platform TheNigeriaLawyer, the tax specialist via his handle on X.com Sunday, noted that the committee’s recommendation was explicitly with respect to Value-Added Tax.
He noted that the committee also recommended that states and local governments stop imposing “consumption taxes” which result in multiple taxation.
The tweet read,” We did not recommend a reduction in the Federal Government’s share from [the] federation’s account. Our recommendation is with respect to VAT revenue, to increase the share of states and local governments from 85% to 90%, and for states to discontinue their other forms of consumption taxes which constitute multiple taxation on businesses and individuals.”
The FAAC is responsible for reviewing and adopting the allocation of funds to the FG, states and local governments.
At the September 2024 FAAC meeting in Abuja, the committee, in a statement by its Director of Press and Public Relations, Bawa Mokwa, announced that it had disbursed a total sum of N1.2 trillion earned as revenue in August 2024 to the FG, states and local governments.
The report partly wrote, “Under the new proposal, Oyedele explained [that] the distribution formula for the states and local governments would include a clause stipulating that 60 per cent of their share will be based on the principle of derivation. In practice, this means if N100 is available for distribution from FAAC, the Federal Government will take N10, all 36 states will share N36 equally, and N54 will be distributed based on derivation, favouring states with higher resource generation.
“This change in the sharing formula is part of broader reforms aimed at eliminating numerous “nuisance taxes” and streamlining the tax collection process. Oyedele noted that the Federal Government had to make this concession to get states on board with a centralised and more efficient tax collection system.”
“The new approach not only simplifies tax collection but also lays the foundation for fiscal federalism, giving states and local governments more autonomy over their revenues,” quoted Oyedele.
In early October 2024, the FG, through the Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms committee, announced the exemption of 63 items from the VAT, as part of its latest fiscal reforms.