Governor Sanwo-Olu signs VAT bill into law

The Value Added Tax (VAT) bill has been signed into law by Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

The bill was passed by the Lagos State House of Assembly on Thursday, September 5.

“The governor signed the bill for a law to impose and charge VAT on certain goods and services at about 11:45 am today, after returning from an official trip to Abuja. By this act, the bill has now become law,” says Gbenga Omotosho, who is Commissioner for Information in Lagos.

The VAT legislation has been a contentious, hut button one lately, with state governments in Nigeria’s southern region bickering with the federal government, and pushing for the responsibility to collect consumption tax within their jurisdictions.

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On August 9, 2021, a Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, ruled that the Rivers State Government and not the FIRS (Federal Inland Revenue Service), is the rightful authority to collect VAT in Rivers–a development that has since sparked heated debates on fiscal federalism and resource control on social media platforms.