The Company Income Tax paid by breweries, bottling and beverages companies rose by 329.48 per cent in the first quarter of the year, a report by the National Bureau of Statistics has shown.

The CIT is charged at a rate of 30 per cent for large companies with more than N100m annual revenue, according to the Finance Act of 2019.

Companies with revenues in the range of N25m to N100m are liable to pay 20 per cent CIT annually, while businesses generating less than N25m annually are not subject to CIT payment, according to the Act.

The NBS in its Company Income Tax by Sectors report for Q1 2021 revealed that the CIT for consumer drinks increased by 329.48 per cent from N5.42bn in Q1 2020, to N23.26bn in Q2 2021.

There was also a significant Quarter on Quarter increase as the revenue more than doubled from N11.11bn in Q4 2020.

Data from the Purchasing Managers Index for December 2020 at 55 basis points showed that product orders for the industry were growing at a faster rate month-on-month, confirming the increased revenues, which resulted in increased tax remittances.

The Chemicals, Paints and Allied Industries remitted CIT 53.93 per cent more than the previous year’s remittances. The Federal Government’s revenue grew from N230.20bn in Q1 2020 to N354.36bn in Q1 2021.

However, there was only a slight increase in CIT from Q4 2020 as it grew by just 0.24 per cent from N353.52bn.

The CIT payment by other manufacturing concerns rose by 14.98 per cent YoY from N14.14bn in Q1 2020 to N16.25bn. However, there was a significant reduction in remittances of 36.61 per cent from N25.64bn in Q4 2020.