FIRS seals two firms in Bauchi over tax evasion

The Tax Enforcement Team of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), on Tuesday, sealed the premises of the Bauchi State Investment Company (BIC) and Abdulrashid Tyre Company over alleged tax evasion.

The Tax Controller, Richard Magaji, who led the FIRS team, said the sealing of the companies, followed the inability of the companies to pay various sums amounting to over N22 million.

Magaji told reporters at the BIC premises that the company had an outstanding balance of N8 million to pay to the FIRS.

He said that official and personal efforts made by officials of the FIRS to get BIC to pay even part of the debt had proved abortive, noting that the FIRS had no option than to seal up the premises.

Magaji said that Abdurrashid Tyre Company also had to be sealed because it had operated for over 10 years but registered only last week, in spite of series of appeals by FIRS officials to pay its tax.

He said that FIRS had since directed the management of the company to bring its books for assessment to enable the FIRS determine the actual tax to be paid by the company.

Magaji said that another company, Garu Microfinance Bank, had similarly, refused to pay tax since its establishment.
He said, however, that the management of the bank had promised to pay N2 million within 24 hours out of some N14 million owed by the bank.

The controller expressed satisfaction with the activities of the FIRS, urging business owners to pay their taxes as and when due.

He warned that the FIRS would continue to carry out raids on companies, advising business owners and other institutions to pay their taxes to avoid being embraced.

“We recorded 80 per cent compliance in 2013 and 60 per cent in 2014, which means that collection is dwindling, but when I looked at the national chart, it seems it is a general phenomenon,” Magaji stated.

(NAN)