On a day the Nigerian Senate approved N30,000 minimum wage, the Federal Government announced an increase in Value Added Tax (VAT) from 5 percent to about 7.5 percent.

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), on Tuesday, said Nigerians should brace up for an increase in VAT by between 35 and 50 per cent in 2019. This will raise the VAT from the current five per cent to between 6.75 and 7.25 per cent.

The Chairman of FIRS, Mr Babatunde Fowler, dropped the hint when he appeared alongside other top officials in the Federal Ministry of Finance before the Senate Committee on Finance in Abuja.

He said the impending VAT increase was one of the areas being looked at by FIRS to meet its 2019 revenue generation target of N8 trillion.

The officials appeared before the committee to give details of the 2019-2021 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper.

Fowler’s announcement came shortly after the Senate passed the National Minimum Wage Act (Amendment) Bill in which it approved N30, 000 as the new minimum wage for the workers in the country.