The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) said it would soon commence collection of duties from telecommunication (call and data) and digital network services in the country.
This came as the Federal Government on Thursday said it has concluded plans to implement the new tariff hike of five percent on calls and data.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said the Federal Government would begin the implementation of a five percent excise duty tax on all voice calls, SMS, and data services, in addition to the existing 7.5 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT), paid for goods and services across all sectors of the economy.
Customs spokesman, Timi Bomodi, in a statement said collection of revenue from the products and services would begin as soon as the modalities for collection are in place, adding that duties from the revenue sources are expected to boost the NCS revenue collection for the year.
Speaking on the half year performance of the Service, Bomodi said the Service generated the sum of N1.292trillion as revenue into the federation account between January to June 2022.
He said the Service was given a target of 3.019 for the year, an amount he said exceeds the Service 2021 target by 80.78 percent.
He said, “Between January and June 2022, we have been able to generate the sum of N1, 292,904,201,376.89 into the federation account as against the sum of N1,003,540,084,590.16 for the corresponding period in 2021. The amount generated surpassed our achievements of last year by N289,364,116,786.73 or 28.83%. This is even more remarkable given the fact that only 116,691 Pre-Arrival Assessment Reports (PAARs) were issued against 129,667 processed in the same period of 2021.
“The sum of N156,315,758,646.18 was also generated into the non-federation account as collections made on behalf of other Government agencies.”
Giving a breakdown of revenue generated in the last six months, Bomodi, a Deputy Comptroller of Customs, said the Service collected N68,015,808,146.61 as excise duty through its 22 Commands.
On anti smuggling, he said various goods with a total Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N39,174,678,983.00 were seized due to regulatory and policy infringements.
“The top seven items seized are narcotics and other illicit drugs with a DPV of N8,768,311,517.00, followed by foreign parboiled rice with a DPV of N8,251,353,292.00, and illegal imports of dangerous pharmaceuticals with a DPV of N7,630,764,524.00.
“Other items are used clothing with a DPV of N4,051,244,924.00, petroleum products with a DPV of N3,698,181,138.00, textiles and made-up fabrics with a DPV of N2,561,361,989.00 and motor vehicles with a DPV of N1,853,084,115.00.
“The DPV value of seizures in the current year exceeds that of seizures made in 2021 by a whopping N34,752,130,003.00,” he said.
Bomodi said the Anti-Money Laundering Unit (AML) of the Service also made seizures of $339,800 USD, £12,000 POUNDS, 3,013,500 RYD, 20,005 CFA, and 133 ATM cards.
“Seven persons were arrested in violation of the Anti-Money Laundering Act and handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for prosecution,” he revealed.
The Customs spokesman said the Service had been able to plug areas where there are leakages in revenue to be able to meet its target.
