NBS Places VAT Earnings in Six Months at N651 Billion

Nigeria earned Value Added Tax (VAT) of N651.77 billion in the first half of 2020, a report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed.

The NBS confirmed this in a report titled ‘Sectoral Distribution Of Value Added Tax (H1 2020)’.

According to the report, the VAT figure represents a growth of 8.45 per cent Year-on-Year over the N600.98 billion generated in the corresponding period of 2019.

Professional Services, the report stated, generated the highest amount of VAT with N95.92 billion generated and closely followed by manufacturing which accounted for N67.63 billion.

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Others are commercial and trading generating(N31.10 billion), Pharmaceutical, Soaps and Toiletries (N648.78 million), Textile and Garment Industry (N499.19 million), and mining (N127.58 million).

It added: “Out of the total amounted generated in H1 2020, N335.82 billion was generated as Non-Import VAT locally while N161.74 billion was generated as Non-Import VAT for foreign. The balance of N154.21 billion was generated as NCS-Import VAT.”

Despite VAT remittance growing by 0.81% in the second quarter, critical sectors in the Nigerian economy such as manufacturing, hotel catering, trading, transport, oil, and construction recorded significant declines in remittances during the period. Overall, twenty-one (21) of the twenty-eight (28) sectors recorded declines in VAT remittances in Q2 2020, a significant decline which may be largely attributed to the COVID-19 induced lockdown across the country during the period.