Federal Government to Reintroduce National Tax Amnesty Scheme, Aims for Economic Stability

The Federal Government has revealed plans to reintroduce the national tax amnesty scheme, as disclosed in a statement issued on Thursday. The statement, signed by Stephen Kilebi, the Director of Press and Public Relations at the Ministry of Finance, outlined discussions held during a two-day retreat of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms in Abuja. Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, Chairman of the Committee, highlighted several expected outcomes of the committee’s efforts.

The statement emphasized the committee’s deliverables, which encompass a range of objectives including optimized taxes, harmonized revenue collection functions, a revised national tax policy, national fiscal framework, preparation of bills for constitutional amendment, revenue optimization, creation of a model template for sub-national entities, and the re-establishment of the national tax amnesty scheme.

The Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme, a tax amnesty initiative introduced by the former Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, in 2017, allowed taxpayers a time-limited opportunity to regularize their tax status for previous periods and pay due taxes with certain benefits. The scheme, which began on July 1, 2017, and was intended to last for nine months until March 31, 2018, is set to be reintroduced under the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

In the same statement, Mr. Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, expressed optimism about the future with the implementation of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. Edun assured Nigerians that the government’s focus is on job creation, poverty reduction, stable macroeconomic policies, investor attraction, exchange rate stability, and economic growth.

Edun acknowledged the impact of removing fuel subsidies on the economy but reassured stakeholders that measures were taken to mitigate the effects and address subsidy-related leakages. He pledged that the trend of GDP per capita declining by 30% over the past decade would be reversed under the Renewed Hope Agenda.

Furthermore, the minister assured stakeholders that the issue of hyperinflation plaguing the nation’s economy would soon be resolved. He reminded committee members of the President’s 30-day deadline to produce tangible results and acknowledged that the economy’s growth rate was not meeting expectations.