Government makes N1.08tr from VAT in nine months

FAAC disburses N682b for September

The Federal Government generated N1.08 trillion from Value Added Tax (VAT) in the first nine months of this year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has disclosed.

In a document released yesterday, N550.49 billion was raked in as “non-import VAT locally”, while N 277.081 billion was made from “non-import VAT for foreign.”

The balance of N248.91 came from the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS)-import VAT. The figure was 23 per cent higher than the N876.097 billion figure posted for same period of last year. It was also 33 per cent higher than the N810.03 billion realised from quarters one to three of 2018.

The data further showed that government realised N424.71 billion in the third quarter as against the N327.2 billion generated the previous quarter (when the economy was still completely locked down), representing a 29.8 per cent increase.

The income also exceeded first quarter’s performance, estimated at N324.58 billion, by 31 per centUnlike the earlier years, the three-month pattern revealed a consistent improvement in VAT revenue since the beginning of the year when its rate was increased from five to 7.5 per cent in the midst of public protest.

IN the meantime, another document published by NBS indicated that the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursed N682.06 billion to the three tiers of government in September.

The disbursement included money from the VAT generated in August. According to the report, the amount comprised N531.83 billion from statutory account, and N150.23 billion of VAT earnings.

The Federal Government got N272.90 billion, the states received N197.65 billion, while the 774 local councils were allocated N147.42 billion, even as N30.88 billion was shared among the oil-producing states as 13 per cent derivation.