Half-Year: FIRS Rakes In N2.529tr, 75% of 2018 Revenue Target

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), on Friday said it has so far collected N2.529tr tax revenue in the half-year between January and June, 2018.
A statement by Hassan Dodo, Director (Information) at the Federal Ministry of Finance, noted that the amount, which represents is already 75% of its set target for this year, assuring that with continuous revenue generation strategies, efforts of the agency will have a significant outcome, particularly in increasing revenue for 2018.
In a presentation to the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, FIRS confirmed the revenue performance showing that the half-year revenue also represented an increase of N746.107bn, representing 41.83%, when compared to the N1.783tr realized in the corresponding period in 2017.
A breakdown of the figure shows that N1.168tr, or 46.19% of the total amount was collected as Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), representing a 54.43% rise above the N636.17bn collected in the corresponding period of last year.
Also, a total of N680.093bn was collected as Company Income Tax (CIT), which was N128.151bn or 23.21% more than the N551.941bn in the previous year; while Value Added Tax (VAT) yielded a total of N536.525.54bn in the period under review, which was N68.841bn or 14.71% more than the N467.683bn of 2017.
The statement added that FIRS raked in N77.191bn as Education Tax, compared to the previous N58.868bn, an N18.322bn or 31.12% growth; followed by the N7.492bn earned from Stamp Duties, which was N2.346bn or 45.58% more prior half-year’s total of N5.146bn.
The FIRS said it realized N1.006bn from capital Gains Tax, up by N64.916m from the previous N941.626bn reported in 2017; just as total revenue from NITDEF stood at N9.249bn, resulting in an increase of N736.357m, when compared to the total of N8.513bn in 2017.
Consolidated Tax Revenue between January and June 2018, Dodo continued, was rose by N4.813bn, or 9.73% from 49.428bn to N54.242bn.