Nigeria Generates N2.11trn As Tax revenue In 7 Months

A whooping N2.11 trillion was generated as tax revenue in Nigeria between January to July 2017, the Federal Inland Revenue Service , FIRS says.

A report released by the tax office on Tuesday, the service said N720.28 billion was collected as petroleum profit tax (PPT) and N542.22 billion as value added tax (VAT) revenue from January to June.

Also, N679.9 billion was collected as company income tax (CIT) and N91.4 billion as education tax collection.

The progress report, shows revenue performance of the FIRS and impact of the new tax regime.

According to the report, consolidated tax revenue for the first seven months of the year was N62.3 billion, exceeding the total tax revenue of N59.8 billion generated in the country in the entire 2016 financial year.

The FIRS increased its collection of National Information Technology Development Fund (NITDEF) levy, from N6.75 billion in 2016 to N9.87 billion in the first seven months of 2017.

The report further showed that non-oil sector made up 65.9 percent of the revenue. While oil the oil and gas contribution which was 34%.

“FIRS have adopted e-services as a medium to achieve innovation, convenience and transparency of its operations to ensure that every effort is made to improve efficiency in collections and tax administrations,” the report read.

“A 45-day window from October 5 to November 2017 was given to tax payers with tax liabilities to come forward and pay 25% of the agreed tax liability, spreading the balance liability while waiving penalty and interest.

“FIRS in collaboration with Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) undertook a massive nationwide registration exercise of new taxpayers in 2016.

“We are also carrying out a sector-by-sector tax audit, which have increased compliance across all tax types and taxpayers categories. Over N8 billion have been recovered through this.

“Also, the voluntary assets and income declaration scheme (VAIDS) encourage voluntary disclosure of previously undisclosed assets and income for the purpose of payment of all outstanding tax liabilities to boost revenue collection.

“All this will help improve the low tax ratio from 6% to 15% by 2020 and curb the use of tax havens for illicit fund flow and tax avoidance.”

The projected revenue in the 2017 budget is N4.94 trillion, out of which oil revenue will contribute N1.98 trillion, which is based on an estimated crude oil production of 2.2 million barrels per day (mbpd) converted at an exchange rate of N305 to a dollar.