The Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, has announced that it generated N1.1 trillion during the first quarter of 2020. READ ALSO: FIRS Retires Directors, Appoints New Ones
The FIRS, in a statement from Director, Communications and Liaison Department, Abdullahi Ismaila Ahmad, said that the figure was a seven per cent increase over the N1.04 trillion it recorded for the same period of 2019 despite all the turbulence experienced since the beginning of 2020.
According to Ahmad, the tax agency recorded a major improvement in the area of capital gains tax, yielding 568% improvement from N96,408,740.90 in Q1 2019 to N643,935,849.06 in Q1 2019.
In the same vein, the Service recorded a 522% increase in the collection from the NITDEF to record N690,532,855.85 in Q12020, compared to N111,037,797.16 in Q1 2019
Nami, since taking the mantle of leadership at the FIRS, has instituted a regime of policy reforms anchored on the deployment of Information Communication Technology, ICT, to block tax leaks and motivated members of staff at the FIRS by restoring a number of their statutory roles outsourced to private consultants back to the staff.
Also in the period under review, Gas Income Tax increased by 286% in Q12020, amounting to N11,491,627,575.89 compared to N2,977,345,332.31 recorded in Q12020.
In the same vein, Company Income Tax, CIT, collected in Q1 2020 moved up 135% to N95,733,194,644.91 from the corresponding figure of N40,696,980,658.52 recorded in Q1 2019.
Stamp Duty collection in Q12020 is N4,602,037,497.81, a 36% increase compared to the Q12019 figure of N3,386,648,663.85.
In the education sector, the FIRS recorded an 81% increase in its collection of Education Tax, N13,102,045,604.74 in Q12020 compared to N7,229,644,397.68 in Q12019.
NCS and Non-Import VAT also increased by 11% in Q12020 N63,296,684,819.79 and N261,245,617,218.98 respectively from the Q12019 figures of N57,008,866,617.53 and N236,030,481,054.83 in that order.
However, Petroleum Income Tax, Withholding Tax and Personal Income Tax all took a deep in the period under review, a development tax analysts attributed to fluctuations in the price of crude oil in the international market as well as the interregnum witnessed between passing the 2019 Finance Act into law and its coming to effect on February 1, 2020.
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 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.
