Ogun State has introduced the Value Added Tax Bill, 2021 at the State House of Assembly in the wake of the raging controversy over the administration of VAT between the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the states.
The proposed bill on Tuesday scaled first and second readings on the floor of the State House of Assembly.
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The lawmakers gave unanimous backing to the bill, which seeks to “Accord the state its rightful position as a viable federating unit amongst the comity of states generating worthy financial returns in the country.”
Both Rivers and Lagos States have respectively passed the VAT laws.
At plenary on Tuesday, Ogun lawmakers took turns to throw their weight behind the bill title “H.B No. 73/OG/2021- A bill for a law to impose and charge value-added tax on certain goods and services, provide for the administration of the tax and for related purposes.”
The motion for the second reading was moved by the Majority Leader, Yusuf Sheriff seconded by Ganiyu Oyedeji and supported by the Whole House through a voice vote at a plenary presided over by Speaker Olakunle Oluomo.
They lamented that the state often got a lesser share of what it contributed under VAT to the federal government. In their submissions, Honourables Kemi Oduwole, Oludaisi Elemide, Solomon Osho and Olusola Adams, opined that the bill was meant to improve on the state’s financial status through tax revenue generation, pointing out that VAT collection was presently not listed in the exclusive legislative list and thereafter sought for the consideration of tax reduction for owners of small and medium scale businesses.
Responding, Speaker Oluomo lauded his colleague-lawmakers for their contributions to the bill and posited that the leading position of the state among the comity of states in the area of revenue generation must be complemented with equal remittance of allocation on monthly basis from the Federation account, saying the passage of the new VAT law was part of the need for the fulfilment of fiscal federalism.
He thereafter committed the bill to the Committee on Finance and Appropriation for further legislative actions.
