Hello Friends!
The Federal Inland Revenue Service has arrested top management staff of three companies in Lagos for alleged failure of their firms to remit taxes totaling N1.802bn.
The Chief Accountant of Sweet Sensation Confectionary, Mr. Opedemowo Olayemi, whose company was owing N60m for VAT alone, was one of those arrested.
Also arrested were Mr. Dada Arokoyu of UTC Nigeria Limited and Mr. Muyiwa Fojude of Pivot Engineering Limited, whose companies were owing N277.589m and N609.911m respectively.
The other companies involved and the amounts, according to FIRS, are Reliance Telecommunications Limited, N219.694m; HITV Limited, N309.5m; Sweet Sensation Confectionery Limited, N155.483m; Entertainment Highway Limited, N197.444m and John Holt Nigeria Limited, N33.073m.
The enforcement drive led by an assistant director of Legal and Prosecution Department, FIRS, Mr. Abu Stephen, is aimed at recovering arrears of taxes accruing to government from Company Income Tax, Education Tax, Withholding Tax and Value Added Tax.
Stephens said, FIRS had earlier served a series of notice on the companies and four others to pay their outstanding tax liabilities.
The companies admitted their outstanding tax liabilities when the enforcement team called at their offices.
When the team visited HITV, Entertainment Highway and Reliance Communications, their offices were under lock and key, but security men at the gates attended to the enforcement team.
At HITV, the team was told that GTBank Plc had sealed up its premises following a court order, while the security men at Reliance Communication said the company was locked on the directive of its chairman.
According to Stephens, the arrest is a warning to other organisations and individuals in the country on the need to ensure deductions and remittances of their tax obligation as provided by the FIRS Establishment Act 2007.
He added, “Any person being obliged to deduct any tax under this Act or the laws listed in the First Schedule to this Act, but fails to deduct, or having deducted, fails to pay to the service within 30 days from the date the amount was deducted or the time the duty to deduct arose, commits an offence and shall, upon conviction, be liable to pay the tax withheld or not remitted in addition to a penalty of 10 per cent of the tax withheld or not remitted per annum and interest at the prevailing Central Bank of Nigeria minimum re-discount rate and imprisonment for period of not more than three years.”
When the team visited HITV, Entertainment Highway and Reliance Communications, their offices were under lock and key, but security men at the gates attended to the enforcement team.
At HITV, the team was told that GTBank Plc had sealed up its premises following a court order, while the security men at Reliance Communication said the company was locked on the directive of its chairman.
According to Stephens, the arrest is a warning to other organisations and individuals in the country on the need to ensure deductions and remittances of their tax obligation as provided by the FIRS Establishment Act 2007.
He added, “Any person being obliged to deduct any tax under this Act or the laws listed in the First Schedule to this Act, but fails to deduct, or having deducted, fails to pay to the service within 30 days from the date the amount was deducted or the time the duty to deduct arose, commits an offence and shall, upon conviction, be liable to pay the tax withheld or not remitted in addition to a penalty of 10 per cent of the tax withheld or not remitted per annum and interest at the prevailing Central Bank of Nigeria minimum re-discount rate and imprisonment for period of not more than three years.”
Culled from The Punch.
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Simply Cheska...
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