House of Reps on war path with telecom service providers as lawmakers launch investigation into allegations of N143bn unpaid taxes

macfranc007 November 07, 2017 Nigeria News today & Breaking news ▷ Read Nigerian newspapers 24/7 Buchi Obichie

- The House of Representatives Ad-hoc committee on communication equipment and service companies/vendors in Nigeria has launched an investigation into allegations of unpaid taxes by some telecom firms

- The chairman of the committee, Ahmed Abu, disclosed that the unpaid taxes amount to the tune of N143 billion

- He stated that the committee was undertaking the investigation in order to strengthen Nigeria’s laws

- Abu asked the affected companies to provide further documents in order to aid the committee reconcile the figures it had, and move the matter forward

Investigations have been launched by the House of Representatives Ad-hoc committee on communication equipment and service companies/vendors in Nigeria, into allegations of unpaid taxes by some telecom firms, to the tune of N143 billion, Premium Times reports.

The development was made public by the chairman of the committee, Ahmed Abu, at the opening of the investigative hearing.

NAIJ.com gathers that Abu disclosed that the committee would be investigating tax compliance status and remittances of telecom service providers to the relevant government agencies.

He stated: “So far, we have 24 companies (reportedly owing) and we have a total of N143.434 billion.

“When you say tax evasion, it is criminal in nature (and) tax avoidance is legal. So, what we are trying to do here is simple; to strengthen our laws.

“There is nothing wrong if you try to avoid tax, it means there are loopholes in our laws. And what we do is to strengthen these laws and make them better for the benefit of the industry and the benefit of the country.”

The chairman further disclosed that auditors were also going through the books of vendors and lottery operators operating under the platform of telcos.

He stated that the committee would meet with the companies in order to give them an opportunity to defend themselves, and urged them to come forward to provide further documents to help them reconcile figures.

In his words: “Between today and tomorrow, we hope that some of you (company representatives) who have not come forward to provide further documents to reconcile these figures, I am pleading with you to come forward, bring documents at your disposal which we don’t have and reconcile these figures so that we can move forward.”

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigeria’s #1 news app

Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that the federal government lined up fresh heavy sanctions against telecommunications companies in the country.

According to the minister of communications technology, Adebayo Shittu, the government would impose severe sanctions on telecomm companies who defraud Nigerians through poor quality of service, incessant dropped calls and other unauthorized charges.

NAIJ.com bags award as most outstanding ICT-media organisation in Nigeria - on NAIJ.com TV: