Non-oil taxes account for 73% of total revenue collected in 11 months

Data from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has revealed that non-oil taxes accounted for N14.77 trillion or 73 per cent of the N20.211 trillion total taxes collected between January and November 2024.

This marks a significant increase of N7.57 trillion or 105 per cent above the N7.20 trillion collected in 2023. Oil taxes, on the other hand, amounted to N5.44 trillion or 27 per cent of the total taxes collected for the period. This represents a N1.40 trillion increase or 35 per cent above the N4.02 trillion collected in 2023.

The report stated that FIRS collected a total tax revenue of N20.211 trillion in 11 months of 2024, surpassing the 2023 collection by N8.97 trillion or 80 per cent.

The N20.211 trillion collected in 11 months also exceeded the 2024 target of N19.4 trillion and the N17.80 trillion target set for January to November 2024.

The FIRS collection for this period surpassed the annual target by N81 billion, or 104 per cent, and exceeded the 11-month target by 114 per cent.

The 2024 collection represents an increase of N8.97 trillion or 80 per cent over the 2023 annual revenue collection.

Pressed by dwindling revenue amid rising debt, the federal government tasked the FIRS with a target of N19.4 trillion tax revenue for 2024 to significantly increase funding for its budget.

This ambitious target represented a nearly 60 per cent jump from the N12.3 trillion collected in 2023 and formed part of a broader strategy to raise overall government revenue as a percentage of GDP to 25 per cent.

In 2023, the target was N11.558 trillion, but the recorded revenue of N12.32 trillion comprised N3.17 trillion in oil revenue (25.6 per cent of the total) and N9.2 trillion in non-oil revenue (74.4 per cent of the total).

The 2024 projected boost relied on several key assumptions, including a stable crude oil price of $77.96 per barrel, production of 1.78 million barrels per day, an exchange rate benchmarked around N750 per US dollar, and unchanged tax policies.

The federal government achieved the N20.211 trillion collection through a two-pronged approach.

The first was direct collection of its revenue share starting January 2, 2024, using advanced technology and improved methodologies from government-owned enterprises (GOEs) in line with global trends prioritising domestic resource mobilisation over expensive debt.

The second approach significantly increased revenue from GOEs to 50 per cent of their earnings, leaving only 50 per cent for their operations.

Although no target has yet been set for FIRS for 2025, it is expected to exceed N25 trillion.