The Jos Electricity Distribution Company, (JEDC) has refuted allegations of tax default of N433 million that led to the sealing of its office in Makurdi by the Benue Internal Revenue Services (BIRS).
The newsmen report that a statement by Mr. Suswam Terhemba, Media Assistant to the Board Chairman, BIRS, on Thursday in Makurdi, said the administrative office of JEDC in Makurdi was sealed on Wednesday over alleged tax default.
Terhemba said the Board Chairman, Mrs. Mimi Adzape-Orubibi, who led the enforcement team, said the company, and one other, were in default on PAYE, withholding tax, and other levies to the state.
Adzape-Orubibi explained that the enforcement was pursuant to a court order granted by Justice Theresa Igoche of the Benue High Court against the companies.
The chairman said the board had sent demand notices to the defaulting companies and followed up with reminders as contained in sections 57 and 58 of the Personal Income Tax Act (PITA), 2011 as amended.
“After BIRS met with JEDC and reconciled the figures we gave them 30 days to pay and they did not pay. So we followed up with reminders of 14 and seven days which they still did not pay.
“We thereafter approached the court with all our documented evidence and got the warrant to distrain by sealing up the premises of the company until the tax liabilities are defrayed,” she said.
However, Head, Corporate Communications, JEDC, Dr. Friday Adakole Elijah, in a statement on Thursday, said the company was not owing BIRS such a “humongous amount of money being claimed by the Chairman.”
Elijah claimed that the company had remitted its PAYE, adding that there was incontrovertible evidence to show that JEDC had been remitting its PAYE to the BIRS’s account.
He said the two bodies had earlier mandated their tax consultants to ascertain the true situation of things adding that JEDC was represented by “Sandstone Associates Ltd.”
He said consultants of both entities met for six weeks and reconciled, stating that the figure of ₦156,515,414.47 was arrived at on Feb. 23.
Elijah further said the Benue State government’s indebtedness to the Jos Disco as at Dec. 31, 2021, was ₦157,943,414.14.
He said the company had pleaded with Board to swap the total tax liability by deducting it from the state government’s indebtedness to the company.
In another development, the Management, Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS) has approved the establishment of an independent tax office for the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).
This is contained in a statement issued by Mustapha Sumaila, Head Corporate Communications, FCT-IRS on Thursday in Abuja.
Sumalia said that prior to the separation of IPPIS to a new office, it was originally under the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) tax office.
He said that the management of FCT-IRS over time thought it necessary to establish an independent tax office for prompt and effective service delivery in order to improve revenue generation in the FCT.
According to him, the new office is located at No. 11, Block “D” Kwame Nkrumah Street, off Yakubu Gowon Crescent, Asokoro, Abuja.
“It began operations on June 1, and taxpayers are hereby advised to visit the office for any transaction related to IPPIS.
“Ultimately, the IPPIS tax office will be in charge of taxes being collected from MDAs that are under IPPIS, and it will be headed by a tax controller with full staff complement,’’ he said.
The Acting Executive Chairman of the service, Mr. Haruna Abdullahi, had during a stakeholders meeting said that the management had taken deliberate measures and approaches to introduce some reforms to boost revenue collection in the FCT.
“We have taken some measures in terms of innovations and reforms to change the narrative with a view to enhancing our tax collection for the territory.
“The benefits of these reforms may not be felt immediately but gradually and as time goes on, we will begin to reap from the seeds we have sowed.
“What I am saying, in essence, is that this transformation will have long-term effects in terms of benefits for the service,’’ the statement said.
