Nigerian Federal Government has taken legal action against Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange platform, for alleged tax evasion.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) filed charges against Binance at the Federal High Court in Abuja, accusing the company of four counts of tax evasion.
The move, according to the Government, is necessary to promote fiscal responsibility and maintain economic integrity within the country.
Two senior executives of Binance, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, are also named as defendants in the lawsuit and are currently in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The charges against Binance include non-payment of Value-Added Tax and Company Income Tax, failure to file tax returns, and allegedly aiding customers in evading taxes through the platform.
The company is also accused of failing to register with the FIRS for tax purposes and violating existing tax regulations in Nigeria.
One of the counts in the lawsuit pertains to Binance’s alleged failure to collect and remit various types of taxes to the government as required by Section 40 of the FIRS Establishment Act 2007.
Section 40 of the Act explicitly addresses the non-deduction and non-remittance of taxes, prescribing penalties and potential imprisonment for defaulting entities.
The charges further detail specific instances where Binance purportedly violated tax laws, such as failing to issue invoices for VAT purposes, thus obstructing the determination and payment of taxes by subscribers.
“Any company that transacts business in excess of N25 million annually is deemed by the Finance Act to be present in Nigeria.
“According to this rule, Binance falls into that category. So, it has to pay taxes like Company Income Tax (CIT) and also collect and pay Value Added Tax (VAT).
“But Binance did not do this properly. So, the company broke Nigerian laws and could be investigated and taken to court for this infraction,” Adekanmbi said.
FIRS, by the law setting it up and various others, is empowered to assess, collect and account for revenue accruing to the Federation and administer relevant tax laws.
