BY Oluwatoyin Bayagbon
Revenue from value added tax (VAT) grossed N797.51 billion into the federation account between January and October 2017.
Kemi Adeosun, minister of finance, disclosed this on Tuesday.
The non-oil revenue represents 46.15 percent of the 2017 VAT budget of N1.728 trillion. It is, however, an increase of 19.78 percent over the corresponding period in 2016.
Adeosun released the details of the 2017 VAT collection on Tuesday in Abuja. She said the highest VAT collection of N86.71 billion was achieved in September 2017, while N84.67 billion and N83.315 billion were recorded in May and October, respectively.
The lowest VAT earning of N69.20 billion was in March 2017.
The federal government gets 15 percent of VAT revenue, while the states and local governments receive 50 percent and 35 percent, respectively.
“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,” she said.
“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 percent, 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.”
She added that the country’s revenue strategy to improve tax through the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS), would lead to a broader tax base and more sustainable revenue for all tiers of government.
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