The House of Representatives has initiated moves to investigate the alleged N1.8 trillion tax owed the Federal Government by Multichoice group, the operator of DSTV and GoTV services.
The Green Chamber’s decision to probe the TV entertainment and other services providing firm was sequel to the adoption of a motion by Rep. Saidu Abdullahi during plenary on Wednesday in Abuja.
Moving the motion, lawmaker alleged that Multichoice, a multinational corporation operating in Nigeria, was accused by the fiscal authorities of non-remittance of tax revenues due to the Federation as evidenced by the suppression of information discovered from the submissions in its home country.
According to him, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) had engaged a consultant in 2021 under a whistle-blowing contract to conduct an audit of the tax obligations of the group’s subsidiary – Multichoice Nigeria – as well as MultiChoice Africa with a view to ascertaining the company’s tax indebtedness to the country.
The Legislator explained that findings led to a back audit and investigation carried out by the FIRS from 2011 to 2020, adding that previous efforts by FIRS to recover unpaid taxes through legal means, including court proceedings and resolution to settle out of court by both parties, failed.
He explained: “The systems audit and investigation revealed enormous indebtedness to the tune of over N1.8 trillion in back total taxes for MultiChoice Nigeria.
“This also includes a $342 million in Value-added tax, for MultiChoice Africa that had never paid any taxes since they started business operations in Nigeria”, Abdullahi added.
He said both amounts were levied upon the Multichoice Group by the FIRS and that the imperative of the current moves to make the firm settle its outstanding tax liabilities was based on ongoing arrangements to sell Multichoice Nigeria and other Multichoice Group subsidiaries in Nigeria to a foreign Interest, while the tax indebtedness remained outstanding.
The lawmaker expressed concern that if urgent actions were not taken to recover the tax revenues from the Multichoice Group, the Federal Government could lose the tax revenue.
During its adopting the motion, the House cautioned potential buyers of Multichoice Nigeria, Multichoice Africa or any other subsidiaries of the Multichoice group operating in Nigeria to be aware of the alleged outstanding indebtedness.
