BARRING all odds, the vexatious tax reform bills may be signed into law by the first quarter of this year (2025), with the implementation of the bills slated to begin by July same year.
The Chairman, Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, disclosed this at the 2025 LCCI Economic Review and Outlook Conference, held in Lagos, on Thursday.
Oyedele, while reviewing the nation’s economy in 2024, and providing the shape it might take in the new year, described as not unusual the agitations and conversations the bills had attracted in the past few months.
These, he said, were due to the fact that the bills contained reforms that had to do with individuals and businesses directly.
He, however, expressed the optimism that when enacted into law, the reforms would go a long way in making businesses in the country competitive while also enhancing the lives of Nigerians, especially the vulnerable ones, due to some significant provisions they contained.
“I find the reforms exciting because this is the first time in my adult life that we are focusing on how to make businesses more competitive.” For instance, how do you reduce their costs? How do we bring down their tax rates? How do we ensure that small businesses can thrive without the excess burden they have been dealing with since? How do we protect the low-income earners in the society? How do we ensure within government some sanity, regarding how revenues are collected and taxes introduced?
“ We do know of government agencies that got their establishment laws amended, and introduced taxes to fund agencies that the private sector has to provide. It was almost like nobody was thinking that these private businesses do not have limitless pockets to be funding everybody and every agency.
“All these are what the bills are out to address. The fact that we are having this national conversation, and it is creating awareness in itself is a win already, and it can really get better,” he added.
Oyedele assured that the committee would continue to engage relevant stakeholders while expressing delight at the level of progress it had made with individuals and businesses, regarding the reforms.
On the economy in 2025, Oyedele expressed the optimism that the new year would be better than the out-gone year.
He believed inflation would continue to moderate in the new year; since the factors that pushed up prices in 2024, are no longer there.
“I’m positive that 2025 is almost like a reset. We expect that the exchange rate will be stable in 2025 because the factor pushing the exchange rate has reduced significantly since we now have local refinery capacity, and the fact that we’ve cut out some inflation of consumption that we can not really verify.
“The fact that there will be inflow of FX into the federation account, and once you stabilize the economy beyond FPI, you’ll begin to attract foreign investors. And as all of that is coming together, that means you’ll have a stable naira, possibly recovering, and becoming stronger and therefore helping with inflation, helping with businesses, and general conditions of living. I think
it’s a year that we are turning the corner for good,” he concluded.
