Preface
On 28 May 2023, His Excellency, former President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, signed the Finance Bill,2023 into law as Finance Act, 2023.
The Finance Bill, 2023 was an Executive Bill prepared by the then Honourable Minister for Finance, Budget and National Planning, and presented by His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, together with the 2023 Budget proposals to the National Assembly. Following several reviews and updates by both the Executive and National Assembly, the Finance Bill, 2023 was signed by the former President as Finance Act, 2023 (hereinafter referred to as “Finance Act”, “FA 2023” or “the Act”).
The Act introduces changes to the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) Act, Companies Income Tax (CIT) Act, Personal Income Tax (PIT) Act, Customs and Excise Tariff Etc. (Consolidation) Act (CETA), Value Added Tax (VAT) Act, Petroleum Profits Tax (PPT) Act, Stamp Duties Act (SDA), Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences (CPORO) Act, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (Establishment) Act, Public Procurement Act (PPA) and the Ministry of Finance (Incorporated) {MoFI} Act. The commencement date of these amendments is now 1 September 2023, in line with the Finance Act (Effective Date Variation) Order, 2023 which was signed by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR on 6 July 2023. The Act also made slight modifications to its predecessors, Finance Acts 2019, 2020 and 2021, to clarify some of the changes introduced by these Acts and align them more with the government’s fiscal plans and current economic realities.
Finance Act, 2023 is the fourth in the series of legislative amendments to be enacted by the Federal Government (FG) on an annual timeframe. The passage of the Act reinforces FG’s commitment to making incremental changes to Nigeria’s fiscal framework that continues to be pivotal in achieving Nigeria’s economic growth and sustainable development imperatives. The changes introduced by the Act are intended to improve tax revenue, align changes in the prior Acts to ensure tax equity and consistency, reform Nigeria’ tax incentives regime for companies, and improve tax administration.
This publication contains the analysis of the amendments introduced by the Act and the potential impact of these changes on tax administration, government agencies and taxpayers operating in the various sectors of the economy.
