By Dayo Omoogun
With the signing into law of the Finance Bill on Monday by President Muhammadu Buhari the new Value Added Tax (VAT) rate of 7.5 per cent has become effective.
This confirmation was made by the Accountant-General of the Federation Ahmed Idris, while speaking with newsmwn in Abuja on Wednesday. The law had since been passed by the National Assembly on November 21,2019. Shedding more light on the implementation, he said, “VAT is deducted at the point of payment rather than the point of purchase”.He cited an example of a payment which he stopped because the old rate of 5% was charged. “Just yesterday (Tuesday), I saw a transaction which was done last year in December and when I checked the payment, the VAT on it was five per cent and I said no it must be 7.5 percent because the five per cent VAT has been overtaken by events because that is the law as at today.