Nigeria earned N10t from VAT under Buhari– NBS

Federal Government has raked in N10.1tn from the collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) under President Muhammadu Buhari.

An analysis of reports obtained from National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that VAT earnings continued to rise annually throughout the eight-year period.

While the country earned N759.4billion in 2015, N777.5billion in 2016, N972.4billion in 2017 and N1.1trillion in 2018, VAT collections in 2019 amounted to N1.2trillion, N1.5trillion in 2020, N2.1trillion in 2021 while N2.5trillion was paid in 2022.

This comes against the backdrop of the advice by Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, that the incoming government should increase the VAT from the current 7.5 per cent to 10 per cent.

It will be recalled that VAT is a 7.5 per cent consumption tax administered by the Federal Inland Revenue Service when goods are purchased and services are rendered, and it is borne by the final consumer.

Revenue generated from VAT is usually disbursed to the three tiers of government through the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee.