Nigeria Customs moves to halt tax reform bills over “contradictory clauses”

• The Nigeria Customs Service has moved to halt further legislation on the Tax Reform Bills 2024 over conflicting provisions
• The Customs boss pointed out several clauses in the bills that run contrary to the Customs Act 2023
• He asked that the issues be addressed before further legislation to prevent conflicts when the bill is passed

Legit.ng journalist Ruth Okwumbu-Imafidon has over a decade of experience in business reporting across digital and mainstream media.

The Nigerian Customs Service has pointed out some provisions in the Tax reform bills currently undergoing legislation in the National Assembly, and the Customs Act, 2023.

The Comptroller-General, Mr. Adewale Adeniyi, noted that while the service is not against the current legislation, he needed to point out areas where the bill conflicts with provisions of the most current Customs Act of 2023.

Adeniyi was speaking at the public hearing on the Tax reform bills, where the lawmakers had only just promised to speed the passing of the bill to help the current administration achieve the trillion-dollar economy vision for Nigeria.

The Customs CG pointed out that it was too early to start conflicting the provisions of the Customs Act. Photo Credit: NCS
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Customs points out conflicting clauses in Tax Bill

The Customs Boss referred to Clauses 78, 79, 141(1) and 143 of the proposed Nigeria Tax Bill 2024, which he said would conflict with the existing Nigerian Customs Act 2023, the Vanguard news reports.

Adeniyi urged the legislators to tackle those contradictions before the third reading, as it was too early to repeal an Act that had produced massive results in just two years.

He recalled that under the provisions of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Act 2023, the service had grown its revenue by 97% within the last year, and is already on track to do more in 2025.

He said;

While fielding questions from journalists after the hearing, Senator Sani Musa, pledged that the legislators would pass a law that would be generally accepted by Nigerians.

The lawmakers have promised that all opinions would be considered before the bill is finally passed. Photo credit: Nurphoto
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Musa, also Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, added that the public hearing on the tax reform bills was meant to pool input and contributions from stakeholders and concerned Nigerians before the bill would be passed, and promised that all opinions would be considered.

He observed that after the public hearing, the Senate would embark on a retreat to consult with experts, and the Attorney General of the Federation to reach a workable result that will serve subsequent administrations.

Public hearing on the Tax reform bill started recently and have proved to be an outlet for stakeholders to voice concerns over the bills.

Recall that the Chairman of the Tax reform committee, Taiwo Oyedele, even did a comparative analysis to show how 90% of Nigerians would pay less taxes under the new bills compared to the existing tax laws.

Tax Reform Bill Scales Second Reading

In related news, the House of Representatives passed the four tax reform bills proposed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for second reading after a long debate on the floor of the house.

The four tax reform bills are the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill 2024, the Joint Revenue Board of Nigeria (Establishment) Bill 2024, the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill 2024, and the Nigeria Tax Bill 2024.

Leading the debate, the house leader, Professor Julius Ihonvbere, addressed many of the concerns raised about the bills, adding that the issues had been resolved through the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF).

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Source: Legit.ng