Following the suspension of tarrifs on imported food items for a period of time, the federal government has also announced tax exemption on some items that are believed to ease the hardship on Nigerians. These include CNG products and pharmaceutical products. These products will not attract value added tax, VAT.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Wale Edun disclosed this while participating in a programme on the African International Television, AIT titled, ‘Moneyline.’ He said, “Where we are is that on VAT, a whole range of items from CNG to pharmaceutical products and so forth are exempted from VAT. It is an executive order. It is currently with the Ministry of Justice.
“In an executive order which I am also authorised to sign, the Inflation Reduction Act will now contain a range of import duty exemptions, lowering of tariffs and outright tax breaks.”
Highlighting the benefits to the economy, Edun said the move aims to address the unemployment challenge in the country.
He said, “For instance, for employment, if you employ more people, you will be given a tax break against it. So, that range of fiscal incentives will also be laid out in an executive order which Mr President will in due course sign in the next week or two.
“It should be out. It has to go through certain regulatory, and certain legal processes, but nothing is holding it up except just the administrative processing, which we will ensure will be quick. And it is important to point out that costs have gone up, and so these are ways of helping them manage that cost”.