The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, has expressed its full support for the 2024 Tax Reform Bill currently before the National Assembly.
According to NEITI, its enactment has the potential to modernize Nigeria’s tax system.
A statement by NEITI’s Ag. Director, Communications & Stakeholders Management, Obiageli Onuorah, explained that the agency’s position was made known in a memo signed by its Executive Secretary, Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji and addressed to the leadership of the National Assembly and the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms.
Orji opined that the bill could streamline and broaden Nigeria’s tax administration and base to align with global best practices, pointing out that NEITI’s observations followed a detailed review of the draft legislation that showed extensive research and consultation to produce the innovative provisions that are being deliberated upon.
NEITI stated that the draft tax bill emphasized consolidation of legal frameworks, taxing digital assets, addressing resident and non-resident taxation, and introducing measures to curb tax evasion, while demonstrating a strong commitment to fiscal transparency and efficiency.
The statement further stated that a detailed review of the bill revealed that it has the potential to impact positively on revenue generation, household livelihoods, job creation, and overall economic opportunities.
NEITI said, “As an agency with legitimate interests in the draft legislation, the public debate generated by the Bill underscored the overwhelming public interest by Nigerians and the need for greater clarity and trust in its provisions after it is finally passed into law.”
NEITI noted that despite the potentials of the bill, its section-by-section review of the draft law revealed its strengths and weaknesses, particularly as they affect the extractive industries that is the core of NEITI’s specific mandate and thus made several recommendations to bridge the gaps in the implementation of the proposed law.
It stated that careful management of the transition process and robust public awareness campaigns were critical to avoid administrative confusion, while commending the intent of the Bill on unifying tax administration in the country, by repealing existing Acts and consolidating them into a single framework.