The 2020 appropriation bill is based on a new Value Added Tax (VAT) rate of 7.5 percent.
President Muhammadu Buhari disclosed this while presenting the appropriation bill to a joint session of the National Assembly on Tuesday.
The President said the additional revenue to be generated from the higher rate would be deployed to fund health and education sectors as well as infrastructural programmes.
“The draft Finance Bill proposes an increase of the VAT rate from 5% to 7.5%. As such, the 2020 Appropriation Bill is based on this new VAT rate. The additional revenues will be used to fund health, education and infrastructure programmes.
“As the States and Local Governments are allocated 85% of all VAT revenues, we expect to see greater quality and efficiency in their spending in these areas as well,” Buhari said.
The Federal Executive Council had recently approved the increment of the VAT from 5 percent to 7.5 percent.