The federal government in 15 months, has reportedly raked in N1.98tn in taxes from Google, Netflix, Facebook, and other foreign companies operating in the country.
The National Bureau of Statistics said the figure includes both Company Income Tax and Value Added Tax.
According to the Federal Inland Revenue Service, the CIT is a 30% tax imposed on corporate profits, whereas the VAT is a 7.5 percent consumption tax paid for and borne by the final consumer for products purchased and services supplied.
Former Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed issued the Companies Income Tax (Significant Economic Presence) Order of 2020, an amendment to the Finance Act 2019. The directive addressed foreign firms with a Significant Economic Presence in Nigeria that participate in specified services or digital activities.
Despite the difficulties in enforcing the law on foreign corporations generating money in Nigeria, such entities subject to FIRS jurisdiction jointly paid N1.98 trillion in taxes to the federal government from Q1 2022 to Q1 2023.
During this time period, N1.32 trillion was collected through CIT and N661.93 billion was collected through VAT, both of which contributed to the Federal Government’s revenue.
