Following media reports that Multichoice has not complied with tax laws in Nigeria, the satellite television company has refuted allegations of tax evasion, stating that it is currently in talks with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to clear its name of any wrongdoing.
In a statement, the company disclosed: “We have read the media reports and the statements made by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
MultiChoice Nigeria has not received any notification from FIRS. MultiChoice Nigeria respects and is comfortable that it complies with the tax laws of Nigeria.
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.”
Media reports had earlier quoted the Director, Communications and Liaison Department of FIRS Abdullahi Ahmad, as saying that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has engaged some commercial banks as agents to freeze and recover N1.8 trillion from accounts of MultiChoice Nigeria Limited And MultiChoice Africa.
The report further noted that the FIRS explained that the decision to appoint the banks as agents and to freeze the accounts was as a result of the groups’ continued refusal to grant FIRS access to their servers for audit.
The Executive Chairman, FIRS, Muhammad Nami, was quoted as saying, “the companies would not promptly respond to correspondences, they lacked data integrity and are not transparent as they continually deny FIRS access to their records.
The statement from MultiChoice Nigeria further stated that it has complied with Nigerian tax laws and will prove that to the Federal Inland Revenue Service, which accused the South African digital television company of tax fraud.
“We will work with FIRS to prove our tax compliance,” The statement concluded.
