The Federation account records N798bn revenue from VAT in ten months

The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun on Tuesday disclosed that the Federation Account recorded a total revenue inflow of N797.51 billion from Value Added Tax between January and October 2017.

According to her, the highest VAT collection of N86.71 billion was achieved in September 2017, while the sums of N84.67 billion and N83.315 billion were recorded in May and October respectively.

She revealed that the month of March experienced the lowest VAT earning of N69.20 billion.

The Federal Government gets 15 per cent of VAT revenue, while the states and local governments gets 50 per cent and 35 per cent respectively following the framework under which VAT is administered.

Adeosun, who reiterated that the Federal Government’s committed to insistently grow the tax revenue base, added “Revenue mobilisation is key to national growth and critical to the success of Nigeria’s economic reform agenda.

“We have an unacceptably low level of non-oil revenue and much of that is driven by a failure to collect tax revenues.

“With a tax to Gross Domestic Product ratio of only six per cent, which is one of the lowest levels in the world, we have a lot of work to do if we are going to build a sustainable revenue base that will deliver inclusive growth. Improving VAT and other tax collections is key to Nigeria’s revenue strategy.”

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According to the Finance minister, the Federal Government would maintain its collaborative efforts with state governments to grow the non-oil revenue base, including raising the VAT collection to N100 billion monthly.

Adeosun further said that the Federal Government would ensure that tax compliance is extended to private sector as well as intensify efforts in ensuring that the ministries, departments and agencies also comply in tax payment.

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