Nigeria Collects More Than Half Targeted 2025 Tax in Six Months
Tax revenue in Africa's top crude producer grew 43% to 14.3 trillion naira ($9 billion) compared with a year earlier, putting it well ahead of schedule to meet its full-year goal of 25.2 trillion naira, the government said in a statement on Wednesday. Tax from oil revenue rose 39% to 3.6 trillion naira over the period and non-oil revenue by 44% to 10.6 trillion naira, it said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Exclusive-Chinese consumer complaints show widespread padding of car sales figures
(Reuters) -A tactic used by Chinese automakers and dealers to inflate car sales has grown increasingly common in recent years in response to a bruising price war in the world's largest auto market, a Reuters analysis of consumer complaints has found. Earlier this month, Reuters reported EV brands Neta and Zeekr had arranged for cars to be insured before buyers purchased them, a scheme that effectively inflates sales numbers and gives the appearance the companies were hitting periodic targets. But the controversial tactic was not limited to the two companies and was employed elsewhere in the industry, according to a Reuters review of 97 separate consumer complaints published on three widely used Chinese websites. In more than a dozen cases, buyers said they were informed by dealerships that the practice was specifically designed to meet sales targets. The allegations cover some of China's largest domestic and foreign brands by sales volume, including homegrown champion BYD and Toyota, Volkswagen and Buick. The three foreign brands operate their China businesses in partnerships with state-owned giants GAC and SAIC Motor Group. While the earliest complaints date back to 2021, the majority were published this year and last as a price war squeezed an industry crucial to China's export-driven economy. Reuters reviewed complaints posted on a third-party site used for consumer dispute resolutions, and two other similar sites. The platforms require owners to verify their identity and submit proof of their allegations. In most of the cases reviewed, the automakers responded publicly, saying they sought to resolve problems. Reuters was not able to independently verify the complaints or their resolutions. It is not clear what portion of China's car sales were inflated by the insurance scheme. SAIC, which is a China joint venture partner for Volkswagen and Buick-owner General Motors, said it is committed to providing users with high-quality and standardised sales services but did not elaborate. The practice effectively disguises how much inventory automakers actually held, said Yale Zhang, managing director at consultancy Automotive Foresight. "That could lead to a misjudgment of monthly demand within the industry and result in increased production scheduling," Zhang said. CONSUMER ANGER Between 2021 and 2025, 48 separate buyers said on that they purchased new cars only to later discover they were already insured by the dealer. Many of the buyers said they felt deceived by the dealerships, especially when they realised the insurance on their cars was registered in other names. Likewise, there were 26 separate complaints published between 2021 and 2025 on the 315 auto consumer complaint platform, run by the state-owned China Internet Information Center. Another 23 were posted between 2022 and 2025 on Black Cat, a widely used consumer complaint platform run by tech firm Sina. In 14 complaints on the three platforms, buyers of BYD-, Neta-, Toyota-, Buick- and Chevrolet-branded cars said they were told by dealers the practice was aimed at booking sales early to meet targets. One complaint, filed in December against a SAIC GM dealer on alleged the automaker required 60 cars to be insured without buyers to meet sales targets. Another complaint on filed in April alleged a BYD store in Shaanxi told a buyer it had 12 cars insured in a batch to inflate sales last July. Buyers of Li Auto, Changan, FAW-Volkswagen and Geely also reported cars being insured pre-purchase. A Volkswagen Group China spokesperson said it refused to boost sales figures through insurance and that complaints would be investigated. DEALER COMPLAINTS Separately, Reuters identified 29 official media reports from 2020 to 2025 that detailed complaints against dealers of major brands, including BYD and Changan and foreign brands Volkswagen, GM, Toyota, Nissan and Honda, run by their joint ventures with state-owned Chinese automakers. The media outlets, across 15 provinces and cities, are controlled and owned by the regional governments. In nine cases, dealers representing FAW Hongqi, SAIC Roewe, SAIC VW, Dongfeng Nissan, GAC Toyota, GAC Honda and SAIC GM told official media that insuring unsold vehicles was for booking purchases early to meet sales targets. A Honda spokesperson said that GAC Honda prohibits dealers from taking out compulsory insurance before selling new cars and that any dealers found doing so would be dealt with severely. FAW Hongqi said it does not use insurance plans to pre-confirm sales and any such activity was not official company action. GM China said it does not require wholesale vehicles to be insured pre-purchase and that it counts deliveries, not insurance, in its sales reports. BYD, GAC Toyota, Geely, Changan, Nissan and Li Auto did not respond to requests for comment. Reuters also identified five articles published by Chinese courts between March 2023 and March 2025 about consumers taking dealers to court for concealing pre-purchase car insurance. In three of those, the court ruled for the buyers who demanded compensation. Verdicts for the other two were not publicised. 'ZERO MILEAGE' Vehicles booked as sold before reaching buyers are called "zero-mileage used cars" in China. The practice emerged out of the cut-throat competition as the market deals with a years-long price war caused by chronic overcapacity. More than 100 car brands are competing intensely to survive consolidation, deepening pressure to bolster sales and take market share. Analysts and investors that track the industry use two sets of data. Wholesale figures reported by automakers to the industry association show sales from automakers to dealers, while retail data compiled from mandatory traffic insurance registrations show the number of sales to users. Accusations of selling cars with existing insurance policies date back to 2016 when a Cadillac buyer told a regional radio programme he found the car was insured before his purchase. The practice appears to have picked up after the price war started in early 2023, when several brands led by Li Auto started posting weekly sales rankings on social media based on insurance registrations. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers has criticised such postings as unreliable and this month blamed them for intensifying "vicious" competition.
Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Bloomberg
High Coffee Prices Bolster Africa's Biggest Exporter's Earnings
Uganda's coffee earnings have more than doubled in the past 12 months as a national drive for more production caught a rising price wave. For a decade, Uganda has been in a push to quadruple output to 20 million 60-kilogram (132-pound) sacks of the bean. Authorities handed out seedlings and directed resources toward soil-fertility management, rehabilitating trees and training farmers to meet the goal.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Voices: There won't be a wealth tax – but Rachel Reeves can't afford to rule it out just yet
Normally, when politicians decline to rule something out, a sceptical media and public believe they are about to do it. But there should be one exception to this rule. Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves and other ministers are refusing to rule out introducing a wealth tax in this autumn's Budget, when the chancellor is likely to raise taxes by at least £20bn to stick within her fiscal rules. I'm told Starmer and Reeves will not bring in a new wealth tax, such as the 2 per cent levy on assets of more than £10m advocated by a growing number of Labour MPs and Neil Kinnock, the party's former leader, to raise £10bn. A wealth tax is an easy slogan and fits on to a banner. It would do nicely for the Starmer allies hoping to nudge him in a more progressive direction as he seeks a long overdue 'story' for his government. But Reeves and Starmer are not convinced. The chancellor thinks wealth taxes don't work. Twelve developed nations had them in 1990s but only three remain; only one, in Switzerland, brings in lots of money. Reeves burnt her own fingers by targeting non-doms – a process begun by Jeremy Hunt, the outgoing Tory chancellor. I'm told Reeves privately dismissed fears the rich would respond by leaving the UK, saying: "They always say that, but it never happens." It is happening, and she is now considering changing her plan to make worldwide assets, including those in foreign trusts, liable to inheritance tax. One government insider told me: 'People can choose where to pay their taxes. It's very easy to move countries and they are doing it.' A new wealth tax would be complex, take years to introduce and probably not be worth the candle. Dan Neidle, founder of Tax Policy Associates, said its study found such a tax would 'lower long-run growth and employment, thanks to a decline in foreign and domestic investment. It would make UK businesses more fragile and less competitive, and create strong incentives for capital reallocation and migration.' Why not just say no to a wealth tax now? Reeves offered one explanation to her Tory predecessor Norman Lamont at a Lords committee hearing this week. He told her he found it 'a bit strange' the government has not ruled out the move. Reeves replied that if she ruled out one tax rise, the media would move on to the next option, and assume that one was going to happen if she failed to rule it out. A fair point – but not her only reason. Reeves and Starmer need to build bridges with the parliamentary Labour Party after it filleted their welfare legislation, so rejecting a wealth tax now would inflame tensions. I suspect that when the Budget comes, Reeves and her allies will whisper to Labour MPs they are introducing a form of wealth tax through other measures, while avoiding headlines about implementing a specific one. Another reason not to rule out a wealth tax is to help message discipline. Labour certainly needs more of that: ministers unwittingly fuelled speculation about tax rises in media interviews by giving different definitions of "working people'. Far easier to say taxes are a matter for the Budget and we don't comment in advance. Some senior Labour figures think Reeves's reticence is because she is considering proposals that are close to being a wealth tax – for example, increasing property-based taxes. I think she should bring in higher council tax bands for the most expensive properties. It's ludicrous that this tax is based on 1991 property values, and that in England, people in homes valued at more than £320,000 pay the same amount in their local authority. Reform could be sold as a genuine levelling up measure the Tories flunked as it would cut bills in the north and Midlands while raising them in the south. Alternatively, Reeves could increase capital gains tax for the second Budget running, perhaps by bringing it into line with income tax rates, which are higher. Some in government favour a rise in income tax with the money earmarked for defence, as I have suggested. Another option is to raise the top rate of income tax from 45 per cent to 50 per cent. But both ideas would leave Labour open to the charge of breaching its manifesto pledge not to increase income tax, national insurance or VAT. Reeves could argue that circumstances had changed in a more dangerous world. But breaking its promise might be a step too far for an already deeply unpopular PM and party. I don't think there will be a wealth tax. However, the rich shouldn't celebrate. The Budget will increase existing taxes on the wealthy, in line with the government's mantra of protecting "working people", while ensuring 'those with the broadest shoulders carry the greatest burden'. Health warning: creating losers is not pain-free for them or the government, as Reeves discovered when she brought in the 'family farms tax'. But reforming some taxes under a better banner – 'fair tax' – is her best shot.
