There are indications that the Federal Government (FG) is having great times in its finances as its revenue from Value Added Tax (VAT) and Company Income Tax (CIT) rose by 85 per cent year-on-year, YoY, to N6.44 trillion in H1’24.
The same period last year (H1’23) yielded only N3.48 trillion. Meanwhile, the leading commercial banks in Nigeria have paid N579.38 billion as income tax in the first half of 2024 (H1’24), representing a 109.6 percent year-on-year (YoY) increase from N276.39 billion in the corresponding period of 2023, HI’23.
Breakdown of data obtained from the financial statements of banks for H1’24 shows that Zenith Bank led the pack with N149.03 billion followed by Ecobank with N132.5 billion and Guaranty Trust Bank with N98.2 billion.
Other banks with significant tax payments during the period includes Access Bank N67.6 billion, United Bank of Africa N51.06 billion, Stanbic IBTC N30.64 billion, First Bank of Nigeria N21.4 billion, Fidelity Bank paid N19.6 billion, First City Monument Bank N4.3 billion, Wema Bank N3.97 billion and Sterling Bank N1.08.