Private sector hails Tinubu's move to scrap food taxes

The Organised Private Sector has expressed support for the Federal Government's proposal to eliminate taxes on essential goods and services, including food, house rents, and public transportation. This move aims to alleviate the financial burden on citizens and improve their overall well-being.

According to Taiwo Oyedele, Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy, the proposed plan seeks to remove taxes on critical necessities, including food, transportation, and housing. In an interview with Channels TV on Tuesday, Oyedele revealed that the committee's recommendations also include exempting these essential items from value-added tax, VAT. This move is expected to bring relief to citizens and stimulate economic growth.

“We’ve taken into account what are those basic necessities of life—food, accommodations, transportation, education, and health. We’ve deliberately identified those items and removed almost all the taxes applicable to them, including no VAT,” he stated.

According to Oyedele, the proposal is expected to be signed by President Bola Tinubu soon before being sent to the National Assembly for incorporation into the country’s tax laws.

“We think that from the fiscal policy and tax perspective, we can make it more affordable for the Nigerian people to afford those basic necessities. Share-passenger transportation is completely tax-free.

Reacting to this, the National President of the Association of Small Business Owners of Nigeria, Dr Femi Egbesola, described it as a big relief.

“It is a big relief that the government is feeling the plight of the common man and showing some form of sensitivity towards the citizens. Tax relief in sectors like food, transportation, and house rent is a good idea.

“But really, that is not a sustainable way to solve the economic crises and poverty level in the land. The government needs to be more proactive and deal better and in more innovative ways with inflation, ease of doing business, insecurity, and corruption.

“Nigerians need more than tax holidays, for very few Nigerians pay taxes in the first instance. The government needs to activate the economy by reviewing and reforming its fiscal policies and the macroeconomy,” he said.

He noted that the “President may need to rejig his economic team with those that can proffer workable solutions to the myriads of economic challenges facing Nigerians. It is time to face our economic challenges headlong in a more sustainable manner than chasing the shadows.”

The Director-General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, who is a member of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy, said the purpse of the recommendations by the Taiwo Oyedele-led committee is to alleviate the financial strains on Nigerians.

“What is needed is to boost the disposable income of the average Nigerian, because, at the end of the day, that is what it boils down to, how much money is in the hands of Nigerians to be able to make purchases.”

Boosting consumer purchases would directly bring relief to manufacturers who have been burdened by a high inventory of unsold goods, the MAN DG said.

“If you put more money in the hands of Nigerians, they’ll be able to buy from manufacturers. I think it’s a good recommendation,” he declared.

The Director of Centre for Promotion of Private Enterprises, Mua Yusuf, also said the removal of taxes on transportation is applaudable as it would ease the pressure on Nigerians.