possibly shut down of manufacturing plants.
He said an additional increase in the retail price of carbonated drinks would put more Nigerians at risk of serious health challenges as many people would resort to consuming sub-standard drinks as substitutes for carbonated drinks.
“The appeal to rescind the re-introduction of excise duties on non-alcoholic drinks becomes even more compelling when the projected immediate revenue expected from the policy is weighed against the potential long-term loss to both manufacturers and government. The beverage sub-sector will lose 40% of its current sales revenue,” he added.
“This translates to a loss of N1.9 trillion. While the government will only make total projected receipts of N81 billion from the proposed re-introduction of the excise duties. The government also stands to lose N197 billion in VAT, Company Income Tax and Tertiary Education Tax as a consequence of the expected downturn in overall industry performance should the excise duties be effected as being planned”.
NLC, therefore, asks the national assembly to quickly amend the sections of the Finance Act that re-introduced excise duties on non-alcoholic and carbonated drinks.