Cable television service provider, Multichoice Nigeria, Thursday debunked claims that it defaulted in tax payment to the tune of N1.8 trillion as claimed by the Federal Inland Revenues Service, FIRS.
It claimed that as at the time of filing this story, FIRS has not officially notified it of such humongous liability and plans to appoint banks to recover it.
Multichoice, in a statement, said: “We have read the media reports and the statements made by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
“We have been and are currently in discussion with FIRS regarding their concerns and believe that we will be able to resolve the matter amicably.”
However, a reliable source close to the company told Vanguard that FIRS may have made very serious computational errors leading to why it contemplated the company could owe such a humongous sum in tax debt.
The source said: “FIRS is government and you know that no serious business concern would want to engage government in a fight.
“We do not even want to engage it in any media brawl but what we know is that someone somewhere in FIRS has made an embarrassing error which we would amicably resolve with the agency.
“I mean, if you look at the amount it is quoting to be owed and what Multichoice pays as tax, you will find that even if we have not paid anything for several years, we still would not owe up to that.
“By the way, is tax not derived from profit? If Multichoice owes as much as that, how much is the gain we make on annual basis?
“So if you look at it critically, it does not add up. Assuming, without conceding to the fact, that Multichoice owes that outrageous amount, there are very clean processes of drawing debt than the manner this one is playing out.
“Unless there are other issues some people want to get at, through this, the N1.8trn tax thing doesn’t add up at all.
“But like I have told you, Multichoice will resolve the issue amicably with FIRS” he added.
Source: Vanguard
