FG earned N3.37tn from taxes in 9 months 'FIRS

TheFederal Inland Revenue Service earned N3.37tn as tax revenue for the Federal Government within the last nine months.The amount is said to be significant as it represents 90 per cent of the N3.74tn set as targeted revenue for the FIRS in the 2011 budget.The figure was obtained by our correspondent from officials of the FIRS.The Federal Government had, through its Medium Term Expenditure Framework for 2011, projected total revenue of N7.2tn.The MTEF, which is governments fiscal strategy paper, serves as the basis for the preparation of estimates of revenue and expenditure for the annual budget of the Federal Government.An analysis of the fiscal document revealed that the government had projected to generate about N1.7tn from non-oil sources.Of this amount, N632.79bn was expected to be earned from Companies Income Tax, while Value Added Tax was projected at earning N625.24bn for the country.The document also fixed the expected revenue from the Nigerian Customs Service at N450bn.However, a breakdown of the actual tax revenue generated for the last eight months of the year showed that N33.79bn was earned in January, while N346.42bn was received in February; March, N275.41bn; April, N291.89bn; May, N259.66bn; and June, N473.84bn.For July, August and September, the gross tax receipts rose to N472.68bn, N479.67bn and N470bn, respectively.The Director of Corporate Communication, FIRS, Mr. Emmanuel Obeta, confirmed the figure on Friday in Abuja.The huge tax revenue, he noted, was achieved because of the successful implementation of the various reforms carried out by the service in the area of revenue drive.Of the total amount generated, he said that N1.17tn or 36 per cent was collected as non-oil taxes between January and September, while the balance of N2.2tn came from oil taxes.The collection, he said, was also a demonstration of the FIRS drive to make taxation the pivot of the nations development.A breakdown of the non-oil taxes showed that N30.52bn was collected as Gas Income; while N505.88bn came in from Companies Incomes Tax.
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