The Association of Licensed Telecommunication
Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has decried the illegal
revenue generating drives by the officials of the Rivers State Inland Revenue
Service (RIRS) which lead to the shutting of a regional office and hub site of one of its members, the 9mobile, reports ITRealms.
The shutdown, ALTON said has
been shut down for the past three weeks because of illegal demand notice, since
June 26, 2018.
ALTON in a letter to the chairman, Rivers State Inland Revenue Service condemning what it
termed as “over zealousness in their illegal revenue generating drives in the
State” as surprising.
“We understand that the sealing of EMTS
Premises is to compel the collection of alleged tax liability in the subject
amount, which represents its disputed outstanding tax liability arising from Pay-As-You-Earn
(PAYE) of expatriates, erroneously believed by the RIRS to be subject to tax
within the Rivers State,” ALTON chairman, Gbenga Adebayo said.
ALTON insisted that PAYE obligations are to
states in which the employees reside, and EMTS did not have any expatriate(s)
on its payroll who reside in Rivers State within the assessment period, EMTS is
clearly not indebted to the Government of Rivers State for the alleged tax.
EMTS, ALTON pointed, had, at several meetings
and by various correspondence explained and maintained that it is not indebted
to the Government of Rivers State as alleged by the RIRS, as it has never had
expatriate employees working or residing in the state, and provided relevant
documents in support of its position.
Therefore, ALTON categorically reiterated that
EMTS is not indebted to the Government of Rivers State and that the sealing of EMTS’
Premises is illegal, especially as it was carried out without a court order and
without adherence to the due process of law.
“The conduct of the RIRS in this regard,
apart from being a clear contravention of the law, goes against the efforts of
Government at improving Nigeria’s position on the global Ease of Doing Business
index, to encourage foreign investment. Also by applying self-help remedies
especially in a situation where the claim is erroneous, the RIRS has portrayed
the State in very bad light as unfriendly and not welcoming of investors,”
ALTON maintained.
Chuks Egbune/GEE
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