Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Nigeria’s Company Income Tax, CIT, collections fell sharply in the first quarter of 2026, declining by 31.05 per cent year-on-year to N1.37 trillion, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS.
The latest figures highlight mounting pressure on corporate earnings and tax receipts despite strong contributions from key sectors such as mining, financial services and manufacturing.
The NBS report showed that CIT collections stood at N1.37 trillion in Q1 2026, down from the corresponding period of 2025. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, tax revenue also declined by 8.08 per cent from N1.49 trillion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Of the total tax receipts, Foreign Company Income Tax payments accounted for the largest share at N828.82 billion, while domestic companies contributed N538.91 billion.
The data indicate that foreign firms remained the dominant source of corporate tax revenue during the period, contributing more than 60 per cent of total collections.
Sectoral analysis revealed that the financial and insurance sector emerged as the biggest contributor to government coffers, accounting for 24.73 per cent of total CIT collections in the quarter.
Mining and quarrying, which includes Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, followed closely with a contribution of 16.06 per cent, while manufacturing accounted for 13.82 per cent.
The strong performance of mining and quarrying underscores the continued importance of the extractive industries to Nigeria’s revenue profile, despite volatility in global commodity markets and ongoing reforms in the energy sector.
The report also highlighted significant variations in growth across economic sectors.
Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities posted the highest quarter-on-quarter growth rate of 485.71 per cent, reflecting a substantial increase in tax contributions from the sector.
Activities of households as employers, including undifferentiated goods and services-producing activities for own use, recorded the second-highest growth rate at 197.04 per cent.
In contrast, agriculture, forestry and fishing recorded the weakest performance, with a growth rate of minus 73.52 per cent, while the construction sector followed with a decline of minus 63.15 per cent.
Despite the remarkable growth recorded by some sectors, their overall contributions to tax revenues remained marginal.
Activities of households as employers contributed just 0.01 per cent of total CIT collections, the lowest share among all sectors. Activities of extra-territorial organisations and bodies accounted for 0.13 per cent, while water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities contributed 0.38 per cent.
The NBS data suggest that Nigeria’s corporate tax base remains heavily concentrated in a few sectors, particularly financial services, mining and manufacturing, which collectively accounted for more than half of total CIT collections during the quarter.
The decline in overall tax receipts comes at a time when government is seeking to boost non-oil revenues, strengthen fiscal sustainability and improve tax administration amid rising expenditure pressures.
With CIT collections dropping both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter, the figures underscore the challenge of sustaining corporate profitability and tax growth across key sectors of the economy despite ongoing economic reforms.
