Nigeria’s tax to GDP ratio lowest globally – Osinbajo

Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has said Nigeria’s tax to Gross Domestic Products (GDP) ratio is the lowest in the world at 8 per cent.

Osinbajo who stated this on Tuesday in Abuja while declaring open the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CITN) Annual Public Lecture to mark its 40th anniversary, said its comparators are in the threshold of about 15% to 25%.

The vice president was represented by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, who on her part was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mallam Ahmed Aliyu. He said that tax collection has improved to the extent that FIRS exceeded its target for Year 2021 with N6.450 trillion from both oil and non-oil revenues.

“Nigeria’s tax to GDP ratio is one of the lowest in the world. It is at about 8 per cent while our comparators are in the neighbourhood of about 15 percent to 25 percent. Even in Africa we can surely do better. This is symptomatic of undue reliance on oil revenue as a result of fiscal imbalances in our nation’s financial landscape.”

He said the government was happy with the results of sustained efforts towards enhanced tax compliance despite the global economic challenges occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic and the disruption of economic activities by 2020 protests.

Speaking earlier, the president of CITN, Adesina Adedayo, said that the institute is adding value to national development in regulating the tax profession and bringing taxation issues to the front burner.