FIRS Generates N1.5tn in 2019, Plans to Enforce VAT Payment on Online Transactions

Amount generated in Q1 2019+ is 11 percent higher than what the agency realised from that sector in Q1 of 2018.

Agency plans to surpass over N1 trillion it realised from Valued Added Tax (VAT) in 2018.

Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS),  Mr Babatunde Fowler has revealed that the agency has generated N1.5 trillion revenue in the first quarter (Q1) of 2019.

Fowler revealed this when addressing delegates at a high-level meeting on “International Cooperation to Combat Illicit Financial Flows and Strengthen Good Practices on Assets Return” convened by the United Nations General Assembly in New York at the weekend.

According to him, the amount included revenue from non-oil taxes that were 11 percent higher than what the agency realised from that sector in Q1 of 2018.

“In the first quarter (of 2019), what I will say is that in the non-oil sector, we generated 11 per cent higher than what we generated in 2018. Basically, we have generated about N1.5 trillion,

The 2019 amount is N330 billion or 28 percent higher than the N1.17 trillion reported by FIRS in the same period of 2018.  This also represents 18.7 percent of the agency’s total revenue target of N8 trillion for 2019.

Fowler said the target, described by economy watchers as quite ambitious, was realistic with the cooperation of taxpayers, among other factors.

“It is quite realistic as long as we have the cooperation of taxpayers in addition to deployment of technology.

“We have already started the enforcement of over 50,000 accounts that have banking turnover of 100 billion and above that have not filed their returns,” he added.

Speaking on the plans by the agency to surpass the over N1 trillion it realised from Valued Added Tax (VAT) in 2018, Fowler said :“We will get more people into the tax net and deploy more technology.

“We have what we call Auto VAT Collect, and that basically assists taxpayers at the point of transaction, and the VAT portion is sent straight into the federation account.

“So, we know that there is more room for growth in the VAT sector,” he explained.

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