FG Generated N1.18tn from VAT, Company Income Tax in Q1

•Consumption tax grew by 1.75% as companies’ profits fell 37.79% 

•Revenue from rail passengers reduces to N768.44m

James Emejo in Abuja

The federal government raked in a total of N1.18 trillion from both Value Added Tax (VAT) and Company Income Tax (CIT) in the first quarter of the year (Q1 2023).

According to figures released yesterday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) for the period under review, on the aggregate, consumption tax grew by 1.75 per cent quarter-on-quarter to N709.59 billion, compared to N697.38 billion in Q4 2022.

Also, companies’ profit tax stood at N469.01 billion, indicating a contraction of 37.79 per cent, compared to the N753.88 billion recorded in the preceding quarter.

For VAT, local payments accounted for N436.10 billion, while foreign VAT stood at N151.13 billion as well as import VAT which contributed N122.37 billion in Q1.

According to the statistical agency, on quarter-on-quarter basis, the activities of households as employers, undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use recorded the highest growth rate with 349.86 per cent, followed by construction with 95.64 per cent.

On the other hand, activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies had the lowest growth rate at 53.54 per cent, followed by real estate activities at 47.01 per cent.

In terms of sectoral allocation, the top three largest VAT contributors included manufacturing with 29.65 per cent; information and communication with 19.29 per cent; and mining and quarrying with 12.24 per cent.

Conversely, activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies recorded the least share with 0.02 per cent, followed by activities of households as employers, undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use with 0.03 per cent; and water supply, sewerage, waste management, and remediation activities with 0.04 per cent.

However, on a year-on-year basis, VAT collections in Q1 2023 increased by 20.56 per cent compared to Q1 2022.

On the other hand, local CIT payments received stood at N300.78 billion, while foreign CIT receipts contributed N168.23 billion in Q1 to government revenues in the review period.

Quarter-on-quarter, the financial and insurance activities recorded the highest growth rate in profit tax with 50.42 per cent, followed by construction with 42.32 per cent.

However, water supply, sewerage, waste management, and remediation activities had the lowest growth rate at 69.38 per cent, followed by other service activities at 60.13 per cent.

In terms of sectoral contributions, the top three largest shares in Q1 included financial and insurance activities with 22.94 per cent; manufacturing with 20.91 per cent; and information and communication with 11.89 per cent.

Conversely, the activities of households as employers, undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use recorded the least share with 0.01 per cent, followed by water supply, sewerage, waste management, and remediation activities with 0.04 per cent; and activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies with 0.12 per cent.

However, on a year-on-year basis, CIT collections in Q1 decreased by 14.96 per cent compared to the corresponding quarter of 2022.

The statistical agency also disclosed that revenue generation from rail passengers dropped by 63.02 per cent to N768.44 million in Q1 compared to N2.08 billion in Q1 2022.

The country’s rail transportation data for Q1 showed that a total of 441,725 passengers traveled via the rail system.

This, was however lower than the 953,099 reported in the corresponding quarter of 2022, representing a growth rate of -53.65 per cent.In addition, 59,966 tons of goods were transported in Q1 compared to 39,379 tons reported in Q1 2022.

According to the rail transport data obtained from the NBS website, N768.44 million was received from passengers over the period, lower by 63.02 per cent relative to N2.08 billion in the same quarter of the previous year.

Similarly, N181.27 million was collected in Q1 2023 as revenue from goods/cargos, up by 99.28 per cent from N90.96 million received in Q1 2022.

In addition, other receipts amounted to N34.17 million, indicating a decline of 41.02 per cent in Q1, from the N57.92 million collected in Q1 2022.