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President Muhammadu Buhari has asked the National Assembly to exempt animal feeds from the list of items that would attract the payment of Value Added Tax(VAT).
The President stated this in a communication read at both chambers of the National Assembly on Tuesday.
Buhari specifically asked the lawmakers to amend the recently approved Finance Bill 2019 to accommodate the exemption.
The letter reads: “Pursuant to Sections 58 and 59 of Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), I formally request that the Finance Act, 2019 (Amendment) Bill, be considered by the Senate, for passage into law.
“This Bill seeks to amend the Finance Act, 2019, as recently passed by the National Assembly.”
The bill clarified that the administrative effective date for the increase in VAT from 5 per cent to 7.5 per cent was February 1, 2020.
Buhari drew the attention of the lawmakers to the fact animal feeds have been included in the list of basic food items that are exempted from VAT.
He also said that aspects of the existing tax holiday incentive for agriculture should be targeted at small and medium-sized companies, adding that such firms should be those that invest in primary crop, livestock, forestry, fishing and agricultural production.
The President said the incentive would also be administered by the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission(NIPC) pursuant to the Industrial Development (Income Tax Relief) Act.
Buhari said the amendment would help to support the implementation of the 2020 Federal Budget.