The Federal Government said it earned a total sum of N424.71 billion from Value Added Tax (VAT) in the third quarter of the year (Q3 2020) higher than the N327.20 billion recorded in Q2 as well as the N275.12 billion recorded in Q3 2019.

According to the sectoral distribution of VAT data for Q3 2020 released by the NBS, the figure represented a 29.80 per cent or N97.51 billion increase in VAT collection month-on-month and 54.37 per cent or N149.59 billion increase year-on-year.

The manufacturing sector generated the highest amount of VAT with N47.07 billion and closely followed by professional services, which posted N44.01 billion as well as commercial and trading that recorded N21.18 billion.

Mining generated the least, closely followed by textile and garment industry and pharmaceutical, soaps and toiletries with N64.50 million, N346.27 million and N386.16 million, respectively.

According to the NBS, out of the total amount generated in Q3 2020, N214.66 billion was generated as non-import VAT locally while N115.34 billion represented non-import VAT for foreign.

The balance of N94.70 billion was generated as Nigeria Customs Service (NCS)-import VAT.

It also said revenue from banks and financial institutions during the period under review totaled N6.87 billion; breweries, bottling and beverages N15.83 billion; hotels and catering N2.14 billion and federal ministries and parastatals N6.37 billion.