The Nigerian government has announced new
charges on high end products including
private jets, yachts and champagnes, in a
move the government says will force the rich
to pay more to help the country deal with
falling oil price.
New private jets will henceforth attract a 10
percent import surcharge, and will generate
an estimated N3.7 billion yearly, finance
minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said
Wednesday.
Luxury yachts will attract 39 percent import
surcharge with an estimated annual yield of
N1.6 billion, while luxury cars will attract five
percent surcharge and a yearly yield of about
N2.6 billion.
Ms. Okonjo-Iweala said a three percent charge
on champagnes, wines and spirits will yield
about N2.3 billion.
Also, a mansion in Abuja, worth N300 million
and above, will henceforth attract a charge of
one percent, referred to as FCT Mansion Tax.
The government expects to generate about
N360 million from this.
The government expects to raise up N10.56
billion from the surcharges.
Meanwhile, the government says it will stick
to a proposed $65 per barrel crude oil
benchmark despite the continuing decline in
the price of oil.
Oil price continued to fluctuate on Thursday
with Brent crude hovering around $62.21.
While presenting the analysis of the 2015
budget proposal already submitted to the
National Assembly for approval Wednesday,
Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said the government
decided to keep the oil benchmark based on
expert advice.
According to the minister, despite the steep
drop in crude oil price in recent times, the
proposed $65 benchmark was still ideal, as
expert estimates point to average price of oil
in 2015 to be around that level.
The benchmark represents a $13 drop from
the $78 per barrel (about N142 billion of the
federal government budget revenue) originally
proposed in the Medium Term Expenditure
Framework, MTEF, to the National Assembly.
To cushion the negative impact of the
declining oil prices on the economy, Ms.
Okonjo-Iweala said the government would
introduce some short-to-medium term
revenue and expenditure measures.
“We should see these challenging times as
times of opportunities to further move this
economy on the right path,” she said.
She, however, noted that there were still
leakages and incidences of non-remittance of
funds to the treasury by some agencies.
In the short term, the minister said the
government was determined to improve tax
revenues by strengthening tax administration
in the country and plugging leakages and
improve tax collection efficiency.
She also said the government has commenced
a review of tax waivers and exemptions,
particularly the pioneer status scheme to some
oil companies, to curb abuses and attract
additional N36 billion tax revenues in 2015.
No comments: