Nigerian lawmakers rejected President Bola Tinubu’s planned Value Added Tax (VAT) increase and slash in company taxes, dealing a blow to his efforts to bolster government revenue.
Tinubu sought to double the value-added tax rate to 15% over six years to help fund the national budget and change how the revenue is distributed among Nigeria’s 36 states. His plan was opposed by powerful governors, and the House of Representatives declined to back it.
Legislators also shot down a proposal to lower the company tax rate to 25% by next year, from 30% currently, a measure that would have partially offset the VAT increase.
The government has been on a drive to simplify the tax regime, with some of the nation’s dozens of tax laws dating back to the colonial era. Lawmakers have supported some proposed changes, but they and the nation’s senators will still need to vote on them before they can be referred to the president for his assent.
