2 companies incur FIRS wrath over N8bn tax debt

Two companies in Delta and Edo were sealed on Wednesday by officials of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) over N8 billion tax debts.

The Leader of the enforcement team, Mrs Anita Erinne, said the companies were sealed over failure to remit over N8 billion taxes payable to the Federal Government.

She said that one of the affected companies (name withheld), located in Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta, was indebted to the tune of N121 million.

She also revealed that the other defaulting company in Edo owed the government N8.1 billion.

The team leader tendered separate “Warrant of Distraints’’ signed by the FIRS Chairman, Mr Tunde Fowler, to the companies to justify the exercise.

According to her, Section 3 of FIRS (Establishment) Act, No.13 of 2007 and Section 44(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 empowers the FIRS to close any defaulting company.

“No member of staff or anybody should remove the FIRS seals until the companies paid their debts.

“Any attempt to do that, the company will be liable to a tune of N200,000 as a fine to the government,’’ she warned.

Erinne, however, advised companies to comply with the tax laws and remit their taxes promptly to avoid being sealed.

FIRS in 2017 netted N3.2 trillion in 10 months, an amount that represented 79.35 per cent of its target for the year.

The Chairman of the Service, Mr Babatunde Fowler, then expressed readiness of his personnel to help Federal Government in blocking revenue leakages and increase collection of taxes payable to the government.