ABUJA – The Federal Inland Revenue service (FIRS) on Thursday seized the record books and computers of some companies in Abuja over unpaid and unremitted Value Added Tax (VAT).
The exercise which was carried out by the Investigation and Enforcement Unit of FIRS, was led by its Regional Coordinator in charge of the Federal Capital Territory, Alhaji Galadima Saleh.
Saleh said the firms were also being investigated for Withholding Tax (WHT) amounting to about N150 million.
Some of the companies visited during the exercise included Nkoyo Leisure Service, Don-P Communication, Ivory Siuts, Brentford Services Litd. and Drug Haven Pharmacy and Superstores.
The coordinator told newsmen during the exercise that the companies visited were among those that defaulted in filing their returns, remitting VAT and WHT as well as refusing to be audited by FIRS.
He said the service had written series of letters and reminders requesting them to comply, but that they failed to do so.
Saleh said that the FIRS operated a “self assessment system”, a system where all tax payers had to assess themselves and file returns in the service’s offices.
He also said that FIRS carried out tax audit vetting companies’ financial books to ensure that their records tallied with what they filed in terms of tax payment.
He said in the case of Don-P Communication, the company filed a return of N500,000 in a whole year which prompted the service to write the company requesting for tax audit.
Saleh said the essence of the audit was to ascertain the authenticity of the company’s claim to enable it carry out proper assessment on the company.
“At the end of the day, if we find out that the N500,000 claim is the transaction they made in a particular year, there is no problem about it, but they completely refused
“The self assessment will not make meaning without the tax audit. So, the company refused the tax audit assessment. That is why we are here.
“Every company, by law, is supposed to have tax consultants who should educate them on tax issues.
“Organisations are free to raise their own assessment but after sometimes we come for tax audit,” he said.
Saleh said that the case of Ivory Suit was a case of non-remittance of taxes amounting to N50 million over some years based on the assessment of the company by FIRS.
He said that after the company filed based on self assessment, the FIRS decided to come in for audit after which it arrived at the liability which the company needed to come for reconciliation.
“There were three written letters to that effect for them to come in for us to reconcile but they refused to come so we assumed this money is collectable,” he said.
In the case of Brentford Services Ltd., Saleh said the company owed a withholding tax of about N27 million of which notice had been served on the company since September, but it failed to pay.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Managing Director of the Company, Mr Abdul Shuaibu, pleaded with the team for grace pay on or before Dec. 11.
Shuaibu said he was not aware of the timeline, adding that FIRS should have reminded him of the payment before the visit to the company.
“Over the years, there are some people with whom we have not been enjoying the needed cooperation whose taxes have piled.
“We have written severally asking them to come and pay, we have visited them, not only writing but visited them to see if they would come but they refused.
“So we have decided to explore part of the law that now allows us to carry police around to go to them.
“We are interested mostly in VAT and Withholding tax which are taxes that do not relate to profitability of a business.
“You have sold something, you have added 5 per cent for government then remit it to government. That is the essence of this exercise,” he said.
The Coordinator said the exercise was targeted at companies most of which are limited liability companies that had signed agreement with FIRS, filled forms and agreed to remit their tax returns. (NAN)
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