Oil Companies Pay N48 Billion in Taxes in 2020

Oil and gas companies operating in Nigeria paid a combined N47.74 billion in the 2020 fiscal year, the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has shown.

The amount realised was 10.25 percent or N4.94 billion lower than the N52.68 billion recorded in 2019.

A breakdown of the numbers revealed that oil-producing firms paid N40.77 billion in 2020, down from N45.7 billion paid in 2019 while gas-producing firms’ total taxes declined slightly from N6.98 billion in 2019 to N6.96 billion in 2020.

The Federal Government Generated a total of N1.41 trillion in Company Income Tax in 2020, meaning the oil and gas sector contributed 3.39 percent to the amount generated.

In the first quarter of 2020, oil producers paid N9.44 billion. While in the second, third and fourth quarters oil producers paid N8.56 billion, N11.69 billion and N11.08 billion, respectively.

In a similar version, gas producers paid N914.09 million, N655.54 million, N4.76 billion and N639.15 in the four quarters.

COVID-19 lockdown and the general drop in oil prices during the period under review weighed on taxes paid in 2020.