Economy

KWIRS Generates N9.6bn in Q1 2021

Published

4 years ago

20/04/2021

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

A total of N9.6 billion was generated in the first quarter of 2021 by the Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KWIRS). This is the highest ever collected by the agency without any extraordinary item at any quarter since its founding in 2016.

At a news briefing in Ilorin, the state capital on Tuesday, the executive chairman of the agency, Ms Shade Omoniyi, attributed this feat to the adoption of technology, the steady blockage of leakages within the tax administration system and the deliberate steps taken to tackle multiple taxations.

“KWIRS, since inception, has operated a manual tax administration system. This means the assessment and collection of relevant taxes payable to the state government from both KWIRS and other MDAs are on a contract basis.

“Despite this, the service has recorded steady IGR growth over the years. Upon its assumption of office in October 2019, the agency’s new management began working tirelessly to sustain this momentum. These efforts culminated in the IGR growth from N23 billion as of September 30 to N30.7 billion as of the end of the year, 2019.

“The service did not rest on its oars as various revenue and cost-cutting initiatives were immediately implemented to shore up the state IGR while it worked assiduously to automate its revenue and tax administration processes.

“The various revenue leakage blockages paid off when in quarter one of 2020, the service generated N7 billion. However, with the spread of the COVID-19 and subsequent lockdown of the state by the government towards the end of March and up until May, the state IGR plummeted to N2 billion.

“Given that the state’s economy was greatly affected by the lockdown and the state’s collection system was still contact-based as at this time, it was only to be expected that no serious activities would happen in the revenue space for that period.

“It is also known that Kwara State was one of the states who followed the COVID-19 protocols fully which is a main factor for the Q2 2020 revenue performance.

“In addition, you may recall that the state was adjudged as one of the highest in performance and proactiveness in the fight against COVID-19 on all indices by various monitoring entities.

“Recently, there was a similar feat of the government in the administration of the COVID-19 vaccination where the state topped all other states.

“Notwithstanding, with the gradual easing of the lockdown, revenue generation by the service again shot up to N4 billion in Q3 2020 and N6 billion in the Q4 of 2020.

“Thus, it is made obvious that the low IGR figures in Q2 and Q3 and consequent dip in 2020 IGR performance are solely attributable to the COVID-19 incidence and our contact-based collection which proved quite ineffective while the lockdown lasted. These observations were enumerated in the quarterly revenue collections reports released by the service in the year 2020.

“The service has since then not stopped working round the clock to recover lost grounds. Thus, in the first quarter of 2021, KWIRS recorded an IGR of N9,598,504,939.90, the highest so far in the history of the service without an extraordinary item.

“Having mapped out strategies to achieving its IGR target for the current fiscal year, the first quarter collections show steady and significant growth, month-on-month as indicated below: January (2,984,312,074.60); February3,058,746,474.21; March 3,555,446,391.09, totalling 9,598,504,939.90.

“This feat of KW-IRS in Q1, 2021 was a great improvement over the N6,227,099,973.42 raked in the last quarter of 2020.

“It is a reflection of the relentless efforts of the service in bringing seamlessness to tax administration through automation and introduction of online payment platforms to ease payment of all taxes.

“It is also a reflection of the Harmonized Bill recently introduced to serve the following benefits among others: calculates, consolidates and communicates all payable tax revenue and non-tax revenue as applicable to each eligible taxpayer in the State, within any assessment year; brings all eligible businesses into the tax net; stops illegal negotiations between taxpayers and collectors in the ministries or KWIRS offices and prevents diversion of funds; displays all taxes due for payment by a particular taxpayer to block most of the leakages and educates on double and multiple taxations by showing that a single entity or taxpayer could be charged to different revenue lines depending on nature of business.

“In addition to the Harmonized Bill, other initiatives have been introduced. This includes re-profiling of our taxpayers, making mandatory the submission of schedules along with remittances; carrying out prompt enforcement on recalcitrant taxpayers, expansion of ticketing model for the informal sector etc.

“The remarkable growth in the 2021 first quarter IGR is equally an indication that the Kwara State Government continues in its efforts to ensure the economic activities of the state recovers fast from the crippling effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The KWIRS, in spite of the drive to increase IGR, has not introduced new taxes since the inception of the administration of Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq; the required and legitimate taxes due are what is being paid by taxpayers and collected appropriately into the coffers of the state.

“All revenue lines of the MDAs in Kwara State are same as approved and as provided by existing relevant laws.

“KWIRS will continue to work to ensure improvement in revenue generation; veritable support for the federal allocation to ensure the state government meets its responsibilities and the desires of Kwarans.

“The agency will also continue its collaboration with all MDAs and stakeholders in the state for effective and efficient collection of all that is legally due from taxpayers.

“The service will strategically and systematically play its part by using most appropriate technology and committed workforce for the growth of revenue for the state.”

Economy

FAAC Disburses 1.727trn to FG, States Local Councils in December 2024

Published

15 hours ago

14/12/2024

Modupe Gbadeyanka

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The federal government, the 36 states of the federation and the 774 local government areas have received N1.727 trillion from the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) for December 2024.

The funds were disbursed to the three tiers of government from the revenue generated by the nation in November 2024.

At the December meeting of FAAC held in Abuja, it was stated that the amount distributed comprised distributable statutory revenue of N455.354 billion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N585.700 billion, Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue of N15.046 billion and Exchange Difference revenue of N671.392 billion.

According to a statement signed on Friday by the Director of Press and Public Relations for FAAC, Mr Bawa Mokwa, the money generated last month was about N3.143 trillion, with N103.307 billion used for cost of collection and N1.312 trillion for transfers, interventions and refunds.

It was disclosed that gross statutory revenue of N1.827 trillion was received compared with the N1.336 trillion recorded a month earlier.

The statement said gross revenue of N628.972 billion was available from VAT versus N668.291 billion in the preceding month.

The organisation stated that last month, oil and gas royalty and CET levies recorded significant increases, while excise duty, VAT, import duty, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Companies Income Tax (CIT) and EMTL decreased considerably.

As for the sharing, FAAC disclosed that from the N1.727 trillion, the central government got N581.856 billion, the states received N549.792 billion, the councils took N402.553 billion, while the benefiting states got N193.291 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.

From the N585.700 billion VAT earnings, the national government got N87.855 billion, the states received N292.850 billion and the local councils were given N204.995 billion.

Also, from the N455.354 billion distributable statutory revenue, the federal government was given N175.690 billion, the states got N89.113 billion, the local governments had N68.702 billion, and the benefiting states received N121.849 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.

In addition, from the N15.046 billion EMTL revenue, FAAC shared N2.257 billion to the federal government, disbursed N7.523 billion to the states and transferred N5.266 billion to the local councils.

Further, from the N671.392 billion Exchange Difference earnings, it gave central government N316.054 billion, the states N160.306 billion, the local government areas N123.590 billion, and the oil-producing states N71.442 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.

Economy

Okitipupa Plc, Two Others Lift Unlisted Securities Market by 0.65%

Published

20 hours ago

14/12/2024

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.65 per cent gain on Friday, December 13, boosted by three equities admitted on the trading platform.

On the last trading session of the week, Okitipupa Plc appreciated by N2.70 to settle at N29.74 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N27.04 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc added N2.49 to end the session at N42.85 per unit compared with the previous day’s N40.36 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 50 Kobo to close at N16.30 per share, in contrast to the preceding session’s N15.80 per share.

Consequently, the market capitalisation added N6.89 billion to settle at N1.062 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N1.055 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) gained 19.66 points to wrap the session at 3,032.16 points compared with 3,012.50 points recorded in the previous session.

Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors increased by 171.6 per cent to 1.2 million units from the 447,905 units recorded a day earlier, but the value of shares traded by the market participants declined by 19.3 per cent to N2.4 million from the N3.02 million achieved a day earlier, and the number of deals went down by 14.3 per cent to 18 deals from 21 deals.

At the close of business, Geo-Fluids Plc was the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 1.7 billion units worth N3.9 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with the sale of 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.3 million units sold for N5.3 million.

In the same vein, Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 108.7 million units for N89.2 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with a turnover of 297.3 million units worth N5.3 billion.

Economy

Naira Trades N1,533/$1 at Official Market, N1,650/$1 at Parallel Market

Published

21 hours ago

14/12/2024

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira appreciated further against the United States Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by N1.50 or 0.09 per cent to close at N1,533.00/$1 on Friday, December 13 versus the N1,534.50/$1 it was transacted on Thursday.

The local currency has continued to benefit from the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) this month.

The implementation of the forex system comes with diverse implications for all segments of the financial markets that deal with FX, including the rebound in the value of the Naira across markets.

The system instantly reflects data on all FX transactions conducted in the interbank market and approved by the CBN.

Market analysts say the publication of real-time prices and buy-sell orders data from this system has lent support to the Naira in the official market and tackled speculation.

In the official market yesterday, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling by N12.58 to wrap the session at N1,942.19/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,954.77/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N2.44 to close at N1,612.85/€1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,610.41/€1.

At the black market, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the greenback on Friday by N30 to sell for N1,650/$1 compared with the preceding session’s value of N1,680/$1.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was largely positive as investors banked on recent signals, including fresh support from US President-elect, Mr Donald Trump, as well as interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank (ECB).

Ripple (XRP) added 7.3 per cent to sell at $2.49, Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 3.5 per cent to $728.28, Cardano (ADA) expanded by 2.4 per cent to trade at $1.11, Litecoin (LTC) increased by 2.3 per cent to $122.56, Bitcoin (BTC) gained 1.9 per cent to settle at $101,766.17, Dogecoin (DOGE) jumped by 1.2 per cent to $0.4064, Solana (SOL) soared by 0.7 per cent to $226.15 and Ethereum (ETH) advanced by 0.6 per cent to $3,925.35, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.