…Mull tax exemption for military personnel
By Charles Ebi
House of Representatives yesterday, adopted the Tax Reform Bill as a working document.
Arising from the Committee of the Whole, the Speaker, Rt Hon Tajudeen Abbas, said that after deliberations on clauses of the bill, the House adopted it as a working document.
Abbas who commended the Committee on Finance for a work well done, said the report was a reflection of Nigeria’s mind.
“All the 36 states, including the Federal Capital Territory have their representatives in the sub-committee.
“This is the first time such a report is getting 100% approval by almost all members”, he said.
Earlier, while presenting the report, Chairman of the finance committee, Rep. James Faleke, said that contentious areas were well taken care of.
Faleke said the committee recommended that Value Added Tax be based on consumption.
He explained that Value Added Tax still remained 7.5% as it had been.
Falake said the committee recommended a repeal of the Federal Inland Revenue Service to establish the Nigeria Revenue Service.
He said the Nigeria Revenue Service would be saddled with the responsibility of collecting revenues for the Federal Government of Nigeria.
He, however, expressed optimism that the Nigeria Revenue Service would enhance seamless tax harmonisation and administration.
However, the House of Representatives has proposed tax exemption for military personnel on their personal income.
This was one of the issues being examined in the ongoing tax reforms initiated by President Bola Tinubu and forwarded to the federal legislature.
The Chairman of the Reps Finance Committee, Abiodun Faleke, made the disclosure on Thursday.
Faleke spoke during the clause-by-clause consideration of the four tax bills transmitted to the parliament by President Tinubu in October, 2024.
Faleke said, “Mr Speaker, honourable colleagues, the committee proposed that personal income of military personnel should be exempted from tax. This is because of the critical nature of their assignment”.
