Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, has stated that putting exercise charges on carbonated drinks will not be reversed as part of attempts to shore up Federal Government income.
She stated that this will be included in the 2021 Finance Act, which will go into force in January 2022.
The ‘Public Presentation and Breakdown of the Highlights of the 2022 Appropriation Bill’ revealed this, among other things.
The issue over taxing carbonated drinks began in 2019 when Ahmed stated during a World Bank/International Monetary Fund meeting in Washington, DC, that the government was considering implementing the plan.
Ahmed stated the introduction of the levies will be included in the 2021 Finance Bill during her budget breakdown for 2022.
She stated that the ministry and other parties concerned will complete the draft by the end of October, and that the law will then be given to legislators for consideration.
Changes to the 2020 Finance Act exempted minimum wage earners from paying personal income tax.
On the 2021 Finance Bill, Ahmed said, “Yesterday what was presented was the Federal Government budget along with the budget of 63 government owned enterprises, the Finance Bill work we are doing is not yet complete and will be completed within the month of October, hopefully by November we can send that to the National Assembly.
“To further enhance independent revenue generation, government aims to optimise the operational efficiencies and revenue generation focus of the government owned enterprises.
“The introduction of new and further increases in existing pro-health taxes for example exercise duties on carbonated drinks- this is work in progress but it will happen in the 2021 Finance Act.
“Government’s revenue performance and remittances will become enhanced through effective implementation of the performance Management Framework including possible sanctions should their be default on targets that are set for government owned enterprises.
“The Finance Bill 2021 will contain measures that will further advance the implementation of the Strategic Revenue Growth Initiative (SRGI).”
