FG Posts N520billion Deficit In Tax Revenue

The Federal Government generated a total of N2.92tn from taxes in the first nine months of 2015, statistics obtained from the Federal Inland Revenue Service have revealed.

The amount when compared with the N3.44tn, which the Federal Government had set for the FIRS as target for the nine-month period, represented a decrease of N520bn.

A breakdown of the tax revenue earned by the service within the period showed that the sum of N756.7bn was collected in the first quarter of 2015 as against the quarterly revenue target of N1.02tn.

The N756.7bn was raised from Petroleum Profit Tax, which contributed the sum of N368.59bn, and non-oil taxes on which the sum of N388.1bn was collected.

For the second quarter, a total sum of N1.18tn was collected by the FIRS made up of N306.14bn from PPT, while the balance of N881.9bn was generated from non-oil taxes.

In the third quarter, the FIRS statistics showed that the sum of N980.48bn was generated from taxes as against the quarterly target of N1.14tn. The PPT generated the sum of N325.86bn and non-oil taxes accounted for N654.6bn.