PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has faulted the ruling of the tribunal on a tax evasion dispute between Multichoice Nigeria Limited and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
This is contained in the August 2021 Tax Alert released by the firm. Multichoice is the owner of the satellite televisions, DStv and GOtv – popular subscription-based platforms in Nigeria.
In July, the FIRS had appointed some commercial banks as agents to recover N1.8 trillion from accounts of Multichoice Nigeria Limited (MCN) and Multichoice Africa (MCA) over allegations that the companies had refused to grant FIRS access to its servers for audit. The FIRS said it determined through a forensic audit that Multichoice Nigeria Limited failed to pay to the government of Nigeria taxes worth N1.8 trillion.
Last Tuesday, the case was brought before a five-member tax appeal tribunal (TAT) led by A.B. Ahmed, the tribunal chairman, following an application filed by the counsel to FIRS. After the tribunal hearing, confusion reigned between both parties over the amount expected to be paid as security for prosecuting an appeal before the TAT.
Abdullahi Ismaila Ahmad, FIRS spokesperson, said the tribunal ordered Multichoice Nigeria Limited to deposit 50 percent of the disputed N1.8 trillion tax — about N900 billion — with the agency.