The Federal Government earned N4.8tn from the collection of various taxes in the 2013 fiscal year, the Federal Inland Revenue Service said on Monday.
The acting Executive Chairman, FIRS, Alhaji Kabir Mashi, gave the figure in Abuja during the opening of an enlargement management meeting/retreat of the organisation.
The retreat with theme: ‘Growing non-oil revenue to finance government programmes’, was aimed at reviewing the performance of the FIRS in the last one year and to present the collective plan for the current year.
Mashi said the collection of N4.8tn was a huge improvement by N337bn or 7.56 per cent over the N4.46tn earned in 2012.
He, however, lamented that the amount generated last year was below the N5.8tn target of the FIRS by 17.18 per cent.
Mashi said while the service had performed well in the area of tax collection in the last few years, there was a need to improve revenue collection, particularly the non-oil taxes.
This, he stated, had necessitated the FIRS to take steps in growing the non-oil tax revenue through the commencement of the Capacity Enhancement Programme.
According to him, this will help to deliver an additional $500m (N80bn) in non-oil revenue in the current year.
He said, “It is necessary to improve upon non-oil tax collection for a number of reasons, major among which is the increasing global need to reduce the over dependence on oil revenue.
“The service had no doubt done well in the last couple of years. However, there is still a great need for improvement. The FIRS surpassed its revenue target for 2013, collecting N4.805tn as against the target of N4.468tn.
“We surpassed the target by N337bn or 7.56 per cent, but our performance was below the FIRS target of N5.803tn by 17.18 per cent.
“A closer review of the figures for our non-oil collection reveals the actual collection of N2.139tn, which falls short of the government target of N2.188tn by about three per cent.”
Mashi expressed optimism that the FIRS would perform better in the current year to meet its target of N4.21tn, made up of N1.789tn from Petroleum Profit Tax and N1.03tn from Companies’ Income Tax, with N96bn from the CIT gas.
He also projected a collection of N861bn from Value Added Tax; N10.21bn from Capital Gains Tax; N8.46bn as income from duties, while the Education Tax, Personal Income Tax and Technology Levy were expected to contribute N156bn, N59bn and N10.6bn, respectively.
Meanwhile, ahead of the seventh joint annual meeting of the African Union-Economic Commission for Africa conference, which begins today (Tuesday), the African Civil Societies Organisations has called on governments on the continent to end the use of tax incentives to woo investors.
The CSOs, at a media briefing in Abuja on Monday, said tax incentives provided by countries to investors could trigger the illicit movement of money from one country to another.
The representative of the African CSOs Consultative Forum, Mr. Kola Banwo, said evidence had shown that tax incentives were not required to attract foreign investment in most African countries.
He said, “Estimates from studies conducted by one of us, ActionAid, shows that $138bn was given away by governments in developing countries every year from statutory income tax exemptions alone.
“We urge African countries to demand an inclusive and multilateral global tax reform process in which effective participation of all stakeholders, including the civil society is guaranteed in shaping the new international tax rules.”
The group also called on African countries to protect their revenue base as well as review their double taxation treaties, adding that illicit financial flows had continued to deprive the continent of funds for progressive and gender responsive services.
Source: Punch (by Ifeanyi Onuba)
