The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says Nigeria may need to extend value-added tax (VAT) to fuel products and introduce excise duties on telecommunications services to raise government revenue, fund development and social spending.
The recommendation is contained in the IMF’s 2026 Article IV consultation report on Nigeria, released on June 9, where the Washington-based lender said recent tax reforms may not be enough to sustain the government’s spending plans over the medium term.
“Further tax policy changes will likely be needed–such as increasing the VAT rate, extending VAT to fuel products, rationalizing tax expenditures in particular VAT exemptions on extractive industries and some customs duties, and introducing telecom excises — to complement administrative gains,” IMF said.
The fund said continued revenue mobilisation is essential because there is limited room to maintain the federal government’s planned increase in capital expenditure without additional sources of income.
“Staff’s
This post was originally published on this site.
