Non-oil revenue figures for May show VAT pool account of N31.32bn

The Central Bank of Nigerian (CBN) economic report for the month of May 2016 shows Value Added Tax (VAT) Pool Account at N31.32 billion or 31.6 percent of the total statutory allocation, below the provisional monthly budget estimate of N51.35 billion by 39percent.

Though, the May receipts in VAT Pool Account rose above the preceding month’s receipts of N30.83 billion by 1.6 percent, according to the economic report.

Total allocation to the three tiers of government from the Federation and VAT Pool Accounts in May 2016 amounted to N279.28 billion, a decline by 55.2 percent, compared with the provisional monthly budget estimate of N623.82 billion. The sum also fell short of the April distribution by 6.2 percent.

In the review month, allocation from the Federation Account was N40.02 billion (64.6 percent of the total statutory allocation), while its share from the VAT Pool Account was N21.93 billion (35.4 percent of the total statutory allocation).

The report at CBN further shows that of the total federally-collected revenue (net) in May, the sum of N207.88 billion was transferred to the Federation Account for distribution among the three tiers of government, N62.65 billion to VAT Pool Account, N27.08 billion to the Federal Government Independent Revenue and N15.28 billion to “Others” (including Tertiary Education Trust Fund, National Information Technology Development Fund and Customs Special Levies).

Similarly, after the deduction of the cost of collection, the net balance of N62.65 billion was shared from the VAT Pool Account among the three tiers of governments, in the order:  Federal Government, N9.40 billion; State Governments, N31.32 billion; and Local Governments, N21.93 billion.

Iheanyi Nwachukwu