By Dipo Olowookere
In the first quarter of 2021, companies operating in Nigeria remitted not less than N392.8 billion to the government as income tax.
Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that this was 32.8 per cent higher than the N295.7 billion paid as Company Income Tax (CIT) in the first quarter of 2020 and also 32.8 per cent higher than the N295.7 billion remitted in the fourth quarter of last year.
Business Post observed that out of the total amount generated in Q1 2021, N152.33 billion was raked locally, while N184.59 billion was from foreign CIT payment, with the balance of N55.85 billion generated from other payments.
The stats office disclosed that breweries, bottling and beverages generated the highest amount of CIT with N23.3 billion and was closely followed by professional services including telecoms with N18.2 billion and state ministries & parastatals with N17.4 billion.
For the least CIT generated in the period under consideration, it was the textile and garment industry with just N13.5 million. Mining generated N34.4 million, while automobiles and assemblies raked N73.57 million.
A look at some key sectors of the economy showed that banks and financial institutions had a CIT of N9.3 billion, lower than N13.0 billion in Q1 2020 and N10.4 billion in Q4 2020.
Commercial and trading had N13.5 billion in the first three months of this year, higher than the N11.9 billion in the same period of last year and lower than the N19.4 billion in the last quarter of 2020.
In the period under review, federal ministries and parastatals had a CIT of N6.4 billion, lower than N7.0 billion in Q1 2020 and slightly higher than the N6.3 billion in Q4 2020, while hotels and catering had N789.8 million, lower than N1.3 billion recorded in the first three months of last year and higher than N746.5 million in the fourth quarter of last year.
For oil-producing, the CIT in Q1 2021 was N15.4 billion, higher than the N9.4 billion declared in Q1 2020 and the N11.1 billion declared in Q4 2020, while other manufacturing recorded N16.3 billion in the period under review, higher than N14.1 billion in the corresponding period of last year but lower than the N25.6 billion recorded in the previous quarter, Q4 2020, with properties and investments raking N1.1 billion as CIT in Q1 2021, marginally higher than N1.0 billion in Q1 2020 but flat at N1.1 billion raked in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Business Post reports that big organisations with over N100 million gross turnover are required to pay 30 per cent of the revenue, while firms with more than N25 million revenue pay 20 per cent, with companies raking less than N25 million not required to pay CIT.
Adedapo Adesanya