Minister of State for Finance, Yerima Ngama, has put the balance of the excess crude account at $5.27 billion after the sum of N89.738 billion was transferred into it in April, this year.
Addressing newsmen, after the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting in Abuja, the minister also noted that the gross revenue of N621.07 billion received for the month was higher than the N595,70 billion received in the previous month by N25.362 billion.
According to him, this was due to the increased earnings from domestic crude and Petroleum Profit Tax. He, however, said the challenges of production and lifting operation experienced in the previous month have persisted.
Ngama noted that FAAC allocated the sum of N721.51 billion to the three tiers of government for the month of April adding that the amount represents a decrease of N9.628 billion or 1.3 per cent over the N731.133 billion shared in the previous month of March. Giving a breakdown of the allocation, he explained that it shows that N531.332 billion was shared under statutory sources and N54.571 billion was allocated under Value Added Tax (VAT), while N92.436 billion was the augmentation done in the month owing to shortfall.
Also, N35.549 billion was shared under the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P), while Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) paid N7.617 billion as part of the N450 billion debt it owes the federation account. As for the statutory revenue, the federal government got N246.90 billion or 52.68 per cent and states received N125.124 billion or 26.72 per cent while the local governments shared N96.466 billion.
In the same vein, N59.152 billon was shared to the nine oil-producing states based on the 13 per cent principle of derivation. On the Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue which was equally shared, the federal government got N7.85 billion representing 15 per cent; states received N26.194 billion or 50 per cent while local governments got N18.336 billion or 35 per cent.
Meanwhile, Dr Yerima has disclosed that over 350,000 companies in Nigeria evade tax. To this effect, he said, the Federal Government is introducing e-payment system with a view to bringing those companies into the tax net.
In his speech at the workshop of the African Tax Forum organized by the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS), the Minister disclosed that it was regrettable that most companies in Nigeria were not remitting taxes to government adding that something urgently has to be done on this if the economy is to move forward.
The Sun.