The new 7.5 percent value added tax, VAT, and the N50 singular and one-off Stamp Duty charge on electronic receipt or transfer of money, N10,000 or more, deposited in any bank takes effect from today. These are details of the Finance Act, 2019 in relations to taxes recently signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Already banks have begun to sensitise depositors on the new monetary regime.

President Muhammadu Buhari had on Monday, January 13 signed the 2019 Finance Bill into law. Mr Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, confirmed this development in a statement in Abuja. The implication is that Nigerians will start paying 7.5% VAT.

According to the presidential aide, this is sequel to its passage by the National Assembly and subsequent forwarding by the legislature to the President for assent.

It would be recalled that President Buhari, while presenting the 2020 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly, had also presented the Finance Bill and said: “This Finance Bill has five strategic objectives, in terms of achieving incremental, but necessary, changes to our fiscal laws.

“These objectives are; promoting fiscal equity by mitigating instances of regressive taxation; Reforming domestic tax laws to align with global best practices;

Others are; Introducing tax incentives for investments in infrastructure and capital markets; Supporting Micro, Small and Medium-sized businesses in line with our Ease of Doing Business Reforms; and Raising Revenues for Government.

“The draft Finance Bill proposes an increase of the VAT rate from five per cent to 7.5 per cent , as such, the 2020 Appropriation Bill is based on this new VAT rate,” he said.

With the assent, according to Adesina, there would be more revenue to finance key government projects especially in the areas of health, education and critical infrastructure.