The National Assembly has raised the levy on forex windfall to 70 per cent and passed the Finance Act 2023 amendment Bill.
An Executive Bill seeking to impose 50% levy on banks’ forex profits in 2023 was last week sent to the Senate and the House of Representatives for consideration and passage.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Olawale Edun, who was at the National Assembly yesterday, put the funds so far injected as incentive into the manufacturing sector by the Federal Government at N1tr.
The passage of the Finance Act (amendment) Bill followed the consideration of the report of the Joint National Assembly Committees on Finance by both chambers during plenary.
The report was presented by the Chairman, Senate Committees on Finance, Sani Musa to the red chamber and his counterpart in the House, James Abiodun Faleke.
The Joint Committee in the report, observed “that the banks enjoyed windfall as a result of exchange rate unification policy of the Federal Government.
The committee said: “That the windfall was as a result of FX allocation to selected commercial banks. The policy does not permit the use of windfall for dividend payments.”
Below are the committee recommendations:
• That the application of the provision of Section 30 of the Principal Act shall take effect from 1st January 2023.
• The levy shall be (70% for federal government and 30% for banks) on the realized profits from all exchange transactions of banks.
• Any bank that fails to pay the windfall profit levy to the service, has not executed the deferred payment agreement as at the time of commencement of the regime, shall be liable to pay the windfall levy withheld or not remitted in addition to a fine of 10% of the levy withheld or not remitted per annum and interest at the prevailing Central Bank of Nigeria, minimum discount rate.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy said the N1 trillion lifeline for the manufacturing sector was within the last one year.
Yesterday’s public hearing of the panel was the continuation of defence on the Finance Act (Amendment) Bill 2024, deliberations which commenced on Monday.
