The Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, has stated that the Federal Government, led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is willing to compromise on the contentious Value Added Tax structure in the tax reform bills before the National Assembly.
Oyedele made this known on Sunday during an interview with Channels Television.
Recall that four tax reform bills—the Nigeria Tax Bill 2024, the Tax Administration Bill, the Nigeria Revenue Service Establishment Bill, and the Joint Revenue Board Establishment Bill—meant to overhaul the country’s tax system, have sparked heated debate since they were sent to the National Assembly for passage in October 2024.
Speaking on Sunday, Oyedele stressed that the proposed VAT structure on Derivative Principle will benefit every part of the country, contrary to claims in some quarters.
He noted that if the preference was for the current state of the Attribution Principle, then his team was willing to oblige.
“That is what is non-negotiable. Otherwise, we will be missing out on a significant opportunity to move Nigeria forward. But in terms of the details of those bills, everything is up for grabs.
“I can tell you, as we speak today, if they want us to keep the current VAT formula, we’ll keep it 100 percent. So, the fact that people keep using the problem we are trying to solve against us is what I need to understand.”
