Finance bill 2022 will face Challenges, has great Prospect -Expert

The Finance Bill 2022 is a legislation of the National Assembly that speaks to the Finances of the Federal Government which involves Tax Reforms, Equity Reforms and Others.

This according to a Tax Expert and Lawyer, Emmanuel Akpeme, is a major departure from what obtains in the past with 11 amendments to the last Finance Bill form the National Assembly.

He added that the assent of President Muhammadu Buhari will be a major point of moving forward in enhancing Government Finances across all strata.

He described the Bill as a vehicle that will determine all levels of government finances including, Borrowing, Taxes and Spending.

He added that the new Finance Bill 2022 will enable the implementation of the budget for 2023 with Focus drivers embeded in it.

He said this will also help the Federal Government to generate revenue better.

He went further to say that the Finance bill 2022 has a lot of novel ideas that will help in driving Government Revenue, Borrowing and Spending.

He said these provisions are under 4 Broad categories with the renaming of the Federal Inland Revenue Service to the Nigerian Revenue Service which will help in improving the Corporate Governance within the system.

He added that the Finance Bill has brought in a demarcation between the Board Chairman of the Nigerian Revenue Service Board with a Board Chairman to Supervise the Chief Executive of the Service who will now be known as Commissioner General of the National Revenue Service.

He added that the Second part of the categories is the Climate Change provisions which gives powers to all companies that are involved in all Gas associated activities leading to the production of Power and as alternative sources of power and Cooking in Nigeria.

He said this will come in terms of incentives for Companies both Local and Foreign to be able to invest in the development of the nations’ gas resources.

He said the investors can also benefit from a hundred percent capital allowance deduction for any assessible year.

Going Further he added that any company that flares Gas will now be liable to a 60 Percent Tax for that.

He also listed the third category as the Tax Equity reforms which will include Digital Assets as part of a company’s assets which will now be open to capital gains Tax.

The Finance Bill 2022 according to him will also ensure that all services in Nigeria going Forward will be liable to excise duties.

On the issue of Challenges in Implementing the provisions of the bill, he said there are three main challenges which he said will include what to do with Digital Assets which is forbidden by the Central Bank of Nigeria, adding that monitoring will be a challenge until all regulators are on the same page.

He also listed the peculiarity of 2023 as an election year as a challenge to implementing the provisions.