The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has said it collected a total of N6.405 trillion in – both oil and non-oil – revenues a little above the target of N6.401 trillion.
Non-oil sector contributed 68.64 percent of the total collection in the year, while oil sector’s contribution was 31.36 percent of total collection.
According to performance report that was released by the revenue agency today, it generated N2.008 trillion from oil tax and N4.396 trillion from non-oil tax in the year under review.
Companies income tax amounted to N1.896 trillion; petroleum profits tax amounted to N2 trillion; value added tax amounted to N2.07 trillion; electronic money transfer levy: N114 billion; while earmarked taxes amounted to N208.8 billion.
Commenting on the 2021 result, FIRS chairman, Muhammad Nami said “notwithstanding the limitations faced in 2020/2021, the service achieved over a hundred percent of its collection target.”
According to Nami, the revenue watchdog issued certificates for the sum of N147.8 billion tax credit to private investors and NNPC for road infrastructure under the road infrastructure development refurbishment investment tax credit scheme created by executive order No. 007 of 2019.
The report explained that in line with the law, 2021 income tax revenue is a function of the outcome of business activities in 2020.
“In that year, the country entered into a second economic recession within 5 years. The recession was occasioned by 5-months of lockdown caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. To compound the economic challenges of COVID-19 pandemic, business activities were disrupted by the End-SARS protests,” Nami said.
It further stated that the deployment of technological tools was a game-changer for the Service.
The chairman said with the technology-driven solution, taxpayers experienced ease of registration, reporting, payment and issuance of Tax Clearance Certificates while the Service experienced greater efficiency in the deployment of resources thereby leading to improved revenue collection.”
The FIRS stated that strong opposition to its statutory mandates by certain interests posed a major setback in the full implementation of its reforms.
