FG approves VAT exemption on NSE's transactions

The Federal Government of Nigeria has approved the exemption of Value Added Tax (VAT) for a period of five years on most transactions on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

According to the NSE, the VAT exemption is part of the measures put in place by the coordinating minister of the economy and minister of finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in December 2012, to resuscitate the Nigerian capital market.

The exchange said that the VAT exemption is now effective on all commissions applicable to capital market transactions which are earned on traded values of shares and payable to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), NSE and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS).

The CEO of the NSE, Mr Oscar Onyema, in the statement thanked the government for implementing the elimination of the VAT on stock market transaction fees, stating that this is one of the measures announced by the minister of finance in December 2012 and it is a demonstration that the capital market is a key component of the federal government's transformation agenda.