FG Generates N600bn VAT in Three Months

Festus Akanbi

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said the aggregate Value Added Tax (VAT) was reported at N600.15 billion for Q2 2022.

This is according to the VAT Q2 2022 Report released in Abuja yesterday.

According to the report, this shows a growth rate of 1.96 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis from N588.59 billion in Q1 2022.

The report said the local payments recorded were N359.12 billion, while foreign VAT payments contributed N111.13 billion in Q2 2022.

It said on a quarter-on-quarter basis, electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply recorded the highest growth rate with 116.47 per cent, followed by accommodation and food service activities with 42.44 per cent

“On the other hand, activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies had the lowest growth rate with 42.39 per cent.

“This was followed by activities of households as employers, undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use with 36.57 per cent.”

In terms of sectoral contributions, the report showed the top three largest shares in Q2 2022 were Manufacturing with 33.08 per cent, information and communication with 18.98 per cent, and mining and quarrying with 10.60 per cent.

“On the other hand, activities of households as employers, undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use recorded the least share with 0.03 per cent. “This was followed by activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies with 0.05 per cent; and water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities with 0.13 per cent.”

The report, however, said, on a year-on-year basis, VAT collections in Q2 2022 increased by 17.16 per cent from Q2 2021.

The report brought to the fore the ongoing legal battle between the Rivers State Government and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) over the right to collect VAT in the state.

The Rivers State Government had urged the Supreme Court to set aside the Court of Appeal’s September 10, 2021 ruling ordering it and the FIRS to maintain status quo on the issue of VAT collection, the subject matter of a pending appeal.

It had also urged the apex court to disband the panel of the court, which gave the interim order and order another one to be constituted to hear the case.

The three-member panel of the Court of Appeal which issued the order being challenged at the Supreme Court by the Rivers State government was headed by Haruna Tsammani.

Miffed by the order, the Rivers State Government, through its Attorney-General’s office, approached the Supreme Court to seek an order nullifying the decision of the Court of Appeal and the reassignment of the appeal to a new panel.

Meanwhile, the federal government had unveiled strategies to bolster tax revenue for the 2023 fiscal year. This is even as it plans to bring more businesses into the tax net in the coming year while deploying technology to block leakages in already taxed businesses.

Part of these strategies as highlighted in the 2023-2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy paper is to expand the list of bodies and institutions collecting taxes for the government to include telecoms companies, banks and other financial institutions, companies in construction, aviation sectors, among several others.

Already, the Budget Office of the Federation had revealed that it would begin the implementation of its proposed excise duties on telecommunication services and beverages in 2023.

This is in spite of criticism and even rejection of the proposed telecoms tax by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, who supervises the telecoms sector.