MultiChoice Nigeria said the report by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in relation to the payment of 50 per cent of the N1.8tn disputed tax assessment, is false.
Gatekeepers News reports that the FIRS had earlier on Wednesday said that a Tax Appeal Tribunal sitting in Lagos on Tuesday ordered Multichoice Nigeria Limited to pay 50 per cent of the N1.8tn.
N1.8tn is said to be the amount the company has evaded in tax payments.
In a statement, the company said, “The direction issued by the TAT in accordance with paragraph 15(7) of the Fifth Schedule to the FIRS Establishment Act requires MultiChoice Nigeria to deposit with FIRS an amount equal to the tax paid by MultiChoice Nigeria in the preceding year of assessment or one half of the disputed tax assessment under appeal, whichever is the lesser amount plus 10 per cent.
“The lesser amount is the tax paid by MultiChoice Nigeria in the previous assessed year which is substantially less than the disputed assessment. MultiChoice Nigeria is a law-abiding corporate citizen and continues to engage constructively with FIRS in an attempt to resolve this matter.”
Meanwhile, in a statement issued by the Director, Communications and Liaison Department, FIRS, Abdullahi Ahmad, the agency had said a Tax Appeal Tribunal ordered Multichoice Nigeria Limited, owners of popular cable television services, DSTV, to pay 50 per cent of N1.8tn claimed by the tax body.
