The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has announced a total tax revenue collection of 5.5 trillion naira for the half-yearly period from January to June 2023 and expects to generate a total of 25 trillion naira in 2024. It also said that it expects to generate 7.5 trillion naira in the second half of this year.
This is the highest tax revenue collection ever recorded by the Service in the first six months of a fiscal year, the agency said in a statement.
The statement notes that Muhammad Nami, Executive Chairman of the FIRS, made the revelation while presenting the 2023-2024 tax revenue outlook to the National Economic Council during its meeting on Thursday, July 20 at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The presentation, which contained the FIRS 2023 semi-annual collection report, showed that the FIRS had achieved more than one hundred percent of its first half target, against a mid-year target of 5.3 trillion naira.
According to the report, tax revenue collected from the oil sector from January to June 2023 amounted to 2,030 billion naira, against a target of 2,300 billion naira, while non-oil tax revenue amounted to 3,760 billion naira, against a target of 2,980 billion naira. Mr. Nami, in his presentation, further said that the Service collected a total of 1.65 trillion naira in tax revenue as of June 2023. This sum is the highest tax revenue collected by the Service in a month.
“This is a good head start as we work towards meeting our target for the year. And it was achieved despite stubborn headwinds such as the impact of the currency redesign and 2023 General Elections on the economy in the first and second quarters of 2023,” said Mr Nami.
“This half-year performance was achieved as a result of improved voluntary tax compliance by taxpayers, the continued improvement of automation of our tax administration processes, including the updated VAT filing processes, as well as our dogged engagement with stakeholders in both the formal and informal sectors of the economy,” he concluded.
Commenting on the outlook for the remainder half of the year, the FIRS Executive Chairman gave assurances that the country should expect “better days ahead” in terms of tax revenue collection.
“We believe that the performance in the second half of the year would be better considering the continuing improvement to our tax administration processes and positive impact of current government’s policies on the economy,” said the Executive Chairman.
It would be recalled that the Service achieved a total collection of N10.1 trillion in the year 2022, being the highest tax collection ever made by the FIRS in a single year.
Speaking on 2024 projection, the VP media office said “Council commended the FIRS for its initiatives and reforms to boost revenue generation in the country, especially the projection of N25 trillion for the year 2024.
“Council encouraged States to utilise the peer review mechanism in the Nigerian Governors Forum and improve partnership with the Federal Inland Revenue Service to increase their internally generated revenue”.
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