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FIRS seals Kabo Air, others over N1.6bn tax debts

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FIRS seals Kabo Air, others over N1.6bn tax debts

The Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) has sealed up some private owned firms in Kano, including Kabo Airlines, Monaco Ventures Limited and Paki International Motors.

The sealing up of their business premises entered its second day on Tuesday.

The affected companies, according to the head of the FIRS enforcement team in Kano State, Mr. Bukar Gana, were shut down for owing the revenue agency a total of N1.56 billion unpaid tax liabilities in five years, ending in 2015.

According to the head of the agency’s task force, Kabo Airlines owes about N149.7 million from the assessment of the body.

A further breakdown of the airline’s liabilities are drawn from unpaid liabilities from its Income Tax (IT) and Education Tax (ET), he said.

“The company did not contest the liabilities on several occasions that the FIRS officials confronted it before taking the last action, which is to invoke the law through sealing up its premises on Ashton Road, Kano State,” said Gana.

The same scenario, though with little variance, was said to have played out in the other outfits, including an auto-based firm, Paki International Motors, which was alleged to be owing Company Income Tax (CIT) of about N51.15 million, accumulated between 2008 and 2014.

Also affected by the seal up exercise was a popular five-star hotel, Prince Hotel (Sojuna Hotel) owing over N8.36 million tax liability from 2014 to 2016.

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However, a pharmaceutical company, Phamadex Nigeria Limited, said to be owing withholding tax amounting to N572,331, from 2014 to 2015 assessment year, presented evidence of part payment of the liability, but the company was still locked up for default in paying penalty and interest that had allegedly accrued from some delays in payments.

In their separate reactions, the affected companies said they were still on the verge of reconciling the taxes imposed on them without supportive evidence in writing proving that they were in default of tax payment.

Kabo Airline management said it had asked its lawyers, with the company’s tax auditor, to approach FIRS with the aim of resolving the matter.

“It is unfortunate that an issue that is still contentious has been taken before the public court. But we shall overcome this,” state Mr. Mohammed Rabiu, an executive director with the airline.

 

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