Minister says FG will not increase taxes

chika ebuzor

January 29, 2016 4:06 AM

Udoma however said it is the current administration's desire to see the tax collection rate, which currently stands at 20%, increase.

The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma, announced to State House correspondents in Abuja that the Federal Government will not increase taxes despite the drop in oil prices.

He said “We do not intend to increase the VAT rate at the moment, but we want to increase the collection rate from 20 per cent. We will also not raise the Corporate Tax, because we do not want to impose additional burden on Nigerians.

“Government’s position is, however, that those who make money and have not been paying taxes should pay. We expect at least 20 per cent increase in the tax collection rate, which is conservative in terms of our revenue projection.”

Udoma also said “With reference to the budget, one thing we are determined not to do is to cut any of those capital projects because we need them to stimulate the economy. We are going to work with the National Assembly to see how we can get savings. One of the areas we are looking at is our cash call elements.”

Adding that “The Minister of State for Petroleum is looking at how we can cut our cash call elements, which is about N1tn, by innovative financing. So, he is discussing with some oil companies and looking for some innovative financing, which might pick up some of the financing so that we reduce our financial output and contributions by the Federal Government; that will be a major saving, which can be used to plug the gap, particularly with falling oil prices.”

Udoma Udo Udoma served as a Senator of the Federal Republic under the umbrella of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 1999 and 2003 respectively.

chika ebuzor