Despite COVID-19 pandemic, FIRS generated N338.94bn VAT in Q1– NBS

Despite the destruction to major economic activities in the quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says N338.94 billion was generated as Value Added Tax (VAT) in the first quarter (Q1) of 2020.

The NBS made this known in its latest Sectoral distribution of VAT data for Q1, 2020 released on Monday.

It stated that the amount recorded in Q1 was more than the N308.48billion generated in Q4, 2019 and N293.04billion in Q1 2019, representing 9.87 per cent increase Quarter-on-Quarter and 15.66 per cent increase Year-on-Year.

The bureau explained that the professional services generated the highest amount of N38.30 billion and closely followed by other manufacturing, which generated N37.37 billion.

It added that commercial and trading generated N17.19 billion while mining had the least and closely followed by Textile and Garment industry and Local Government Councils with N61.83 million, 306.05 million and 319.04 million respectively.

According to NBS, out of the total amount generated in Q1, 2020, N172.67 billion was generated as non-import VAT locally while N93.67 billion was realised as non-import VAT for foreign.

It further added that the balance of N72.59 billion was generated in Nigeria Customs Service-import VAT.