The federal executive council (FEC) has approved an increase in value added tax (VAT) rate from 5% to 7.2%.
Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national planning, disclosed this to state house correspondents at the end of the cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
However, this is subject to an amendment of the VAT act of 1994 by the national assembly.
In 2007, former president Olusegun Obasanjo increased VAT to 10% on the eve of his departure from office but it was reversed by his successor, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, following opposition from labour.