FIRS increases tax revenue by 7% to N1.1trn in Q1

Despite the crumbling of the global economy due to Coronavirus pandemic, especially the sharp fall in the prices of crude oil, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), has recorded an increase of 7.3 per cent revenue collection target for the First Quarter (Q1) of 2020, compared to the corresponding period of 2019.

The spokesperson of the service, Abdullahi Ahmad said a comparative analysis of the two periods shows a collection of N1.1 trillion (N1,123,377,654,135.14) in the first quarter of 2020 against N1 trillion (N1,046,889,787,060.27) in the first quarter of 2019.

Details of the collection showed Capital Gains Tax increased by about 568 per cent from N96,408,740.90 in the first quarter of 2019 to N643,935,849.06 in the first quarter of 2020.

Mr Ahmad said this gave the agency’s revenue collection its biggest lift amid declining revenues as a result of the turbulence in the global economic system, especially with the sharp fall in crude oil prices at the international oil market.

He attributed this to the direct result of blockage of leakages in the revenue flows through the various reforms initiated at the FIRS by its new chairman, Muhammad Nami, immediately he assumed office in December 2019.

Similarly, he said the FIRS recorded a 522 per cent increase in the collection from the National Information Technology Development Fund (NITDEF) to N690,532,855.85 in the first quarter of 2020, compared to N111,037,797.16 in the same period in 2019

Since his assumption of office as the Chairman of the FIRS, Mr Ahmad said Mr Nami has instituted policy reforms anchored on the deployment of Information Communication Technology (ICT) to block tax leaks.

He said he has also motivated FIRS staff members by restoring to them a number of their statutory roles hitherto outsourced to private consultants.

Also, in the period under review, the FIRS spokesperson said Gas Income Tax increased by 286 per cent in the first quarter of 2020, to N11,491,627,575.89, compared to N2,977,345,332.31 collected in the first quarter of 2019.

Again, Company Income Tax (CIT) collection in the first quarter of 2020 jumped by about 135 per cent to N95,733,194,644.91 from the corresponding figure of N40,696,980,658.52 recorded in the first quarter of 2019.

In addition, Stamp Duty collection in the first quarter of 2020 stood at about N4,602,037,497.81, about 36 per cent increase compared to the first quarter 2019 figure of N3,386,648,663.85

In the education sector, Mr Ahmad said the FIRS recorded an 81 per cent increase in its collection of Education Tax, with N13,102,045,604.74, collected in the first quarter of 2020 compared to N7,229,644,397.68 in the corresponding period in 2019.

Both Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and non-import VAT also increased by 11 per cent in the first quarter of 2020 to N63,296,684,819.79 and N261,245,617,218.98 respectively from the first quarter 2019 figures of N57,008,866,617.53 and N236,030,481,054.83 correspondingly.

However, Petroleum Income Tax (PIT), Withholding Tax and Personal Income Tax all took a dip in the period under review, obviously as a result of the fluctuations in the price of crude oil in the international market.

The drop is also attributable to the interregnum witnessed between passing the 2019 Finance Act into law and its coming to effect on February 1, 2020.

“Going forward and as the on-going reforms and deployment of more ICT platforms at the FIRS take root in the second quarter of 2020, the Service expects a brighter outlook in revenue collections,” Mr Ahmad said.