VAT Revenue: FG Earns N251bn in Q3

• VAT Revenue: FG Earns N251bn in Q3

Nigeria generated a total Value Added Tax revenue of 250.56 billion in the third quarter of the year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics report released on Wednesday. This is 1.73 percent more than the 246.3 billion revenue generated in the second quarter of 2017.

According to the report, the manufacturing sector contributed the most, generating N28.98 billion in the quarter, while professional services and oil-producing sectors contributed N22.73 billion and N12.09 billion, respectively.

However, the mining sector generated the least VAT, contributing N33.7 million to the total revenue in the third quarter.

Still, the total  VAT revenue remains below the Federal Government target of 15 percent of the national gross domestic product.

The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, had last week reiterated Federal Government commitment to growing the tax revenue base in order broaden economic growth.

She had stated, “Revenue mobilisation is key to national growth and critical to the success of Nigeria’s economic reform agenda. We have an unacceptably low level of non-oil revenue and much of that is driven by a failure to collect tax revenues.

“With a tax to Gross Domestic Product ratio of only six per cent, which is one of the lowest levels in the world, we have a lot of work to do if we are going to build a sustainable revenue base that will deliver inclusive growth. Improving VAT and other tax collections is key to Nigeria’s revenue strategy.”

The economy grew at 1.4 percent rate in the third quarter, up from the reversed 0.72 percent recorded in the second quarter of the year.