Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, revealed that the federal government is granting one percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as tax waivers and incentives in its effort to boost revenue. Edun shared this information during an interactive session organized by the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation.
Responding to inquiries from the Committee on Tax Waivers, Edun highlighted the challenges in revenue utilization, indicating that Nigeria’s budget funding relies on a mere 10%, while other African countries allocate up to 25%. Leakages and various waivers contribute to this fiscal constraint, pushing the government to resort to borrowing.
Edun assured that the government is streamlining the multitude of taxes, with 90% of revenue collected originating from nine sources, while the rest is lost through leakages.
The Comptroller General (CG) of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, provided further insights into tax waivers. He stated that tax waivers were granted under the Import Duty Exemption Certificate (IDEC) by the Ministry of Finance, amounting to N1.8 trillion in 2023. Adeniyi clarified that IDEC approval is a power delegated to the Minister of Finance, emphasizing the benefits derived from these waivers, as the funds contribute to various infrastructural developments in the country.
In response to the chairman of the committee’s call for increased revenue targets, Adeniyi expressed the NCS’s determination to raise revenue collection and remittances in 2024. He suggested a review of concession grants by the federal government to facilitate the realization of the N6 trillion revenue target, aligning with the objectives outlined in the “Renewed Hope Budget” presented by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Adeniyi emphasized that achieving N1.8 trillion in revenue within one year demonstrates the feasibility of the N6 trillion revenue goal for 2024, provided the government enacts supportive legislation and reviews concession grants to enhance revenue generation.
