The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) has published the Finance Act, 2019, in the Official Gazette. FGN amended the provisions of seven tax laws in a single Act. While President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Finance Act into law on 13 January 2020, the Minister of Finance earlier announced that the Act would be effective 1 February 2020. This implies an 18-day gap in the two commencement dates, that is, from 14th to 31st January 2020.
Now that the Act has been issued in the Gazette, it is time to move forward with the implementation. The Nigerian tax authorities may need to give a “letter of comfort” to taxpayers stating an effective date of 1 February 2020. You can download a copy of the gazette here.