www.odogwublog.com reports that the Federal Inland Revenue Services has sealed at least 13 firms in Abia State over tax defaults.
An
enforcement team of the agency led by Ruth Mandeun stormed Umuahia the
state capital on Wednesday with court warrants against defaulting
institutions.
The task
force had within two days of its operations in Umuahia metropolis,
sealed over 13 institutions for tax arrears running into millions of
Naira.
Some of the
affected firms include Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Guest
House, and the university's petrol station for owing N3,500,00 income
and value added tax from 2013 to 2016; De-Latino Concert ltd,
N6,677,221; and Hotel Macbeck ltd, N273,313.
Others
are Ohama Suites ltd, N1,153,500; and Onyems Classic Pharmacy,
N400,000; and Otubraco Nig. Ltd, N540,437; Ziggi Services ltd for
defaulting in payment of N250,000 VAT and income tax for 2016; and
Amazing Grace Oil ltd ( N336,000 2015-2016 VAT) although the firm is
currently out of business.
Sealed
also were : Canedot Maintenance ltd , for N250,000 ( 2016 value added
tax) ; and a construction giant - Mentors & Partners ltd for a
whopping N308,937,063 being company income tax and educational tax from
2013 to 2017.
Speaking
with our correspondent after the operation, leader of the task force,
Mrs. Manduen said nine firms were sealed on the first day but three were
later unsealed after the defaulters paid their arrears.
She decried the hostile attitude of some firms towards members of the task force during the enforcement exercise on Wednesday.
Manduen
expressed sadness that one man who claimed to be a magistrate
obstructed their operation at one of the places they visited and tried
to incite the crowd against members of the team.
She wondered why an acclaimed magistrate would abandon his court to defend a client, saying that such attitude was unbecoming.
The
task force leader, however, expressed satisfaction at the compliance
level of defaulters on the secondary day of the operation, saying that a
number of them had opted to clear their liabilities instead of having
their business premises sealed up.
She
restated the commitment of the FIRS under the leadership of its
Executive Chairman, Tunde Fowler, to recover all tax arrears from every
defaulter.
" We are ready to collect every kobo owed FIRS by tax defaulters in Abia State", she vowed.
Mrs.
Mandeun appealed to tax payers not to wait until their businesses were
shut down before they make their payments to avoid embarrassments.
Later
in an interview, one of the defaulters, De- Latino concert ltd, accused
FIRS of over taxing the firm, arguing that it only started operations
in late 2013 and ought to have enjoyed six months of tax holiday.
The
manager of the firm who pleaded for anonymity said the firm was taxed
N750,000 in 2016 out of which it made a deposit of N250,000 wondering
how FIRS arrived at the over N6 million tax arrears to its debit.
Confirming
an improvement in compliance level since the task force arrived the
state, FIRS Controller in charge of Umuahia, Mr. Felix Akaeze, said more
defaulters were now beginning to pay their arrears.
Mr.
Akaeze who said Umuahia has a monthly target of N19 million said only
about N6 million monthly average was recorded some three years back.
He
however, noted that there had been significant improvement since he
took over in November 2016, but regretted that tax payers in the zone
are reluctant to pay their taxes without enforcement.
Photo caption:
FIRS seals over 13 firms in Abia for tax default, targets N19 Million
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Thursday, May 11, 2017
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