The Court of Appeal (COA or “the Court”) sitting in Lagos recently decided in Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS or “the Appellant”) and Attorney General of Lagos State (AGL or “First Respondent”) & The Registered Trustees of Hotel Owners and Managers Association of Lagos (RTHMAL or “Second Respondent”) that VAT is the principal tax on consumption of goods and services in Nigeria. The COA further held that the VAT Act, being an existing Federal law, has covered the field on consumption tax and, therefore, supersedes any similar State Law including the Lagos State Hotel Occupancy and Restaurant Consumption (HORC) Law.
Source: KPMG
