Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, has stated that the Finance Act will become “null and void” once the Tax Reform Bills are passed into law.
He stated this while responding to questions on related tax laws during a stakeholder session for tax consultants and chief financial officers (CFOs) on the PFPTRC’s proposed tax bills.
Oyedele said Nigerians should not expect an annual Finance Act, as the committee has advised the federal government not to introduce a Finance Act in 2024.
According to him, the Finance Act creates too much uncertainty.
“At the last minute, you just see a new Finance Act, and you have to worry about what it entails. So, we feel that if we do this reform for the next five years, we should be fine,” he said.
Oyedele explained that it was possible that all previously enacted Finance Acts have been incorporated into the reform bills, but added, “If they haven’t been incorporated, they become null and void once these bills are passed.”
“So, anything you can’t find in these bills does not exist after the bills have been passed,” he added.
Oyedele maintained that everything currently in place has been considered in drafting the new bills.
“So, when you see the new (reform) bills and something is not there, it means it’s not meant to exist after the laws have been passed,” he said.
He noted that the Committee’s timeline recommends a review of the proposed tax bills (if passed into law) every five years.
Oyedele further opined that the commencement of production by Dangote Refinery will boost the strength of the naira.