Tax evasion: Kano issues ultimatum to three banks

The Kano state government has issued a two-week ultimatum to three commercial banks to pay their outstanding trade registration fees or face closure.

The banks include FirstBank, Ecobank and Unity Bank.

A mobile court presided over by Senior Magistrate, Ibrahim Gwadabe on Thursday in Kano convicted the three banks for failure to pay Trade Registration Fees to the state government through the Ministry of Commerce Industry Cooperative and Solid Minerals.

The offence, according to the judge, contravenes Sections 8 and 9 and is punishable under Section 14 of the Kano State Trade Registration Law 2014.

The information officer of the ministry, Sa’adatu Sulaiman, said the judge, however, ordered the three banks to settle the outstanding fees within two weeks or face closure from their activities until they settled the bills.

Last year, the Kano State Internal Revenue Services (KIRS) sealed five branches of Guaranty Trust Bank in Kano over failure to pay taxes to the state government.