Nigeria’s N13.5 trillion 2021 budget – A move in the right direction?

In October 2021, President Buhari presented to the Senate a proposed 2021 budget of N13.082 trillion. Read more on this here. However, on Monday, 21 December 2020 the Senate passed the appropriation bill of N13.588 trillion. This is N505 billion higher than the proposed N13.588 trillion.

Snapshots of Nigeria’s 2021 Approved Budget – Budget of Economic Recovery and Resilience

  • Total budget size – N13.588 trillion
  • Projected revenue – N7.886 trillion
  • Budget deficit – N5 .196 trillion
  • Statutory transfer – N496.528 billion
  • Debt servicing – N3.324 trillion
  • Capital expenditure – N4.125 trillion
  • Recurrent expenditure – N5.641 trillion

Key Budget Assumptions

  • Official exchange rate – $1: N379
  • Inflation Rate: 11.95%
  • GDP Growth Rate: 3%
  • Oil Production: 1.86mpbd
  • Oil Price: $40pd

Funding of N5.196 trillion Budget Deficit?

According the Senate, below are how they plan on financing the budget deficit

  • Sale of Federal Government assets projected at N205.153 billion
  • Debt financing projected to be valued at N4.281 trillion
  • Multilateral and bilateral project-tied loans of N709.685 billion.

According to the Senate, one of the reasons for the increase in the budget is due to the N365 billion spending request for the upscaling of the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP).

The increase in the 2021 budget is quite worrisome, as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are still lingering, and the economy is yet to recovery. The projections of some key items on the budget can only be achieved when normalcy returns. One of such is the oil price. Global demand for oil is declining.

Take full advantage of FIRS Palliative measures before the end of 2020

As you may be aware, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and several States’ Internal Revenue Services rolled out several palliative measures to cushion the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on taxpayers.

Some of the palliatives measures that were offered by the FIRS to taxpayers was the waiver on interest and penalty on outstanding tax debts arising from tax desk review, audit and/or investigation exercise. The FIRS exercised its powers to waive the interest and penalty on outstanding tax audit liabilities. This is one of the numerous initiatives by the FIRS to aid in cushioning the negative impact of COVID-19 on taxpayers. The FIRS has stated that this waiver does not explicitly apply to interest and penalty on tax liabilities that have not been established through a tax desk review, audit and/or an investigation exercise.

Read More

Q3 2020 Company Income Tax Report: What You Should Know

Companies Income Tax (CIT) is a tax collected on the profits of registered companies in Nigeria. This also includes the tax on the profits of foreign companies carrying on any business in any part of Nigeria. CIT is one of the many means through which the country generates revenue. Companies founded in Nigeria which are referred to as Resident companies are liable to remit CIT on their global income while non-residents are required to remit CIT on their Nigeria-source income. Corporate income tax is based on accounting profits adjusted for tax purposes.

Read More