The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) says it recorded a total tax revenue collection of N5.5 trillion for the first half of January to June 2023.
This figure represents the highest tax revenue ever recorded by the service in any six-month period of a fiscal year.
The executive chairman of the FIRS, Muhammad Nami, disclosed this while presenting the 2023-2024 tax revenue outlook to the National Economic Council (NEC) at the latter’s meeting on Thursday, July 20, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to a statement issued by Johannes Wojuola, special assistant on Media & Communication to the executive chairman, FIRS, the total revenue for the period is the highest tax revenue collection ever recorded by the Service in any first six months of a fiscal year.
This is as the Service made a total collection of N10.1 trillion in the year 2022.
The presentation by Nami, which contained FIRS’ 2023 Half-Year Collection Report, showed that the FIRS achieved over one hundred percent of its target for the first-half of the year when compared with a mid-year target of N5.3 trillion.
According to the report, tax revenue collected from the oil sector from January to June 2023 stood at N2.03 trillion as against a target of N2.3 trillion, while non-oil tax collection was N3.76 trillion, as against a target of N2.98 trillion.
Nami stated that the Service collected a total of N1.65 trillion tax revenues in June 2023 alone. This sum is the highest tax revenue collected by the Service in any single month.
“This is a good head start as we work towards meeting our target for the year. And it was achieved despite stubborn headwinds such as the impact of the currency redesign and 2023 general elections on the economy in the first and second quarters of 2023.
“This sum is the highest tax revenue collected by the Service in any single month.
“This half-year performance was achieved as a result of improved voluntary tax compliance by taxpayers, the continued improvement of automation of our tax administration processes, including the updated VAT filing processes; as well as our dogged engagement with stakeholders in both the formal and informal sectors of the economy,” he said.
Nami speaking further, gave assurances of increased revenue collections in the second half of the year as he noted the continued improvement to nation’s tax administration processes and positive impact of current government’s policies on the economy.
