The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in first-quarter 2020, recorded N1.12 trillion revenue up from N1.04 trillion recorded in Q1 2019.
A statement from FIRS on Thursday shows its commitment towards achieving its N8.5 trillion revenue target for the year, in spite of turbulence in the global economic system, especially the sharp fall in the price of Nigeria’s major export and top earner crude oil.
A breakdown of collections for the period under review shows that Capital Gains Tax soared 568 per cent from N96,408,740.90 in Q1 2019 to N643,935,849.06 in Q1 2020 giving the Service’s revenue its biggest lift due to blockage of leakages in revenue flow by the wide-ranging reforms embraced by the Service.
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“The Service recorded a 522 per cent increase in the collection from the NITDEF to bag N690,532,855.85 in Q1 2020, compared to N111,037,797.16 in Q1 2019”.
“Since taking the mantle of leadership at the FIRS, Nami 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 hitherto outsourced to private consultants back to the staff”.
“Also in the period under review, Gas Income Tax increased by 286 per cent in Q12020, which amounted to N11,491,627,575.89 compared to N2,977,345,332.31 raked in in Q1 2020”.
Similarly, Company Income Tax (CIT) collected in Q1 2020 soared135 percent to N95,733,194,644.91 from the corresponding figure of N40,696,980,658.52 recorded in Q1 2019, while Stamp Duty collection in the period at N4,602,037,497.81 up from N3,386,648,663.85 in Q1 2019.
“FIRS recorded an 81 percent increase in Education Tax, N13,102,045,604.74 in Q12020 compared to N7,229,644,397.68 in Q12019,” said.
“Both NCS and Non-Import VAT also increased by 11percent in Q12020 N63,296,684,819.79 and N261,245,617,218.98 respectively from the Q1 2019 figures of N57,008,866,617.53 and N236,030,481,054.83 respectively”
However, Petroleum Income Tax, Withholding Tax and Personal Income Tax for the period recorded a decline which could be 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.
“Moving forward and as on-going reforms and deployment of more ICT platforms at the FIRS take root in Q2 2020, the Service expects a brighter outlook in revenue collections,” the statement concluded.
