The 2022 Finance Bill, which was just passed by the National Assembly and is pending the president's signature, contains proposals to increase several taxes. The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has warned the federal government about these intentions.
To make it easier to finance the 2023 national budget, the 2022 Finance Bill is being introduced.
The Director-General of the LCCI, Dr Chinyere Almona, stated in a statement over the weekend that instead of raising taxes on businesses, the government should look into innovative strategies to reduce tax expenditures in order to increase government income in 2023.
She stated: “Rising from the interactions with our members and several stakeholders in the broader business community has placed a responsibility on itself to share the concerns about the 2022 Finance Bill as approved by the National Assembly, and as it awaits the assent of the President.
“On the path of caution, we urge the government to thread conservatively in raising tax rates, since there are new ways of rescuing some tax expenditures to add up to government revenue in 2023.
“Leaving rates at their levels will not lead to a loss of revenue.”
Almona further stated that, based on feedback from operators in the oil and gas sector and the wider business community, LCCI recommend the following:
“We suggest retention of the Tertiary Education Tax (TET) rate at 2.5 per cent since it was just recently increased from 2 per cent to 2.5 per cent. At the proposed rate of 3 per cent, Nigeria’s corporate income tax rate would rise to about 36 per cent, which is one of the highest rates in the world, according to available research.
“Retain the 30 per cent CIT for all oil and gas companies and consider amending the Petroleum Profit Tax Act with the same provision in the PIA section 104.”
On achieving revenue targets for the budget, LCCI suggests that Ministries, Departments and Agencies and government-owned enterprises can intensify their revenue mobilisation efforts in an enabling environment where the private sector thrives.