The discovery and production of Shale
gas by the United States of America poses a threat to the Nigerian
economy as export from Nigeria will decline, acting chairman of the
Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Kabir M. Mashi, has said.
Speaking at a workshop on
administration of capital gains tax in Kaduna, Mashi noted that even if
the emerging economies of China and India are to compensate for the
crude oil patronage, many countries in Africa which previously relied on
Nigeria’s crude oil have recently discovered oil in commercial
quantities and will increase crude oil supply to the international
market.
In the first three months of 2013,
U.S. refiners cut their crude imports to just 681 million barrels, down
from 785-800 million barrels in the same period in 2012 and 2011, recent
report said.
The effect is that revenue generation
from crude oil in the nearest future may reduce and put more pressure on
the FIRS to seek alternative avenues from the non-oil sector, he said.
“We must bring to the fore, key issues
impacting on our ability to maximize revenue potentials from various
sources that have hitherto remained untapped,” Mashi said.
According to him, the service has
surpassed its target in the recent past but mostly with a larger
contribution from the oil and gas sector.
“The 2012 annual target of N3.6
trillion was met as at September, 2012. By December, 2012, FIRS
collected a total revenue of N5.01trillion. In the first quarter of
2013, out of the FIRS target of N706.73 billion for non-oil revenue; we
have been able to collect N528.71 billion or 75% of non-oil collection,”
he added.
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