Nasarawa seals banks for failing to remit tax
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The Nasarawa State Chairman of the Internal Revenue Service Board, Mr. Usman Okposhi, said his agency has sealed off 10 commercial banks in the state for failing to remit taxes deducted from clients in 13 local government areas of the state.
Okposhi, who disclosed this in an exclusive interview with Northern City News in Lafia on Thursday, revealed that six branches of Skye Bank, Keystone and Unity banks were shut down.
He explained that NSIRS was forced to use legal means in closing down the banks because they allegedly failed to comply with the law after several demand notices.
According to him, the step taken by the board was based on Section 104 of the Personal Income Tax Act, which permitted tax authorities to resolve with the banks the level of compliance of the taxpayers.
He said, “They (banks) are the agents empowered by law to make deductions, but they are withholding tax on dividends, withholding tax on fixed deposits and other relevant taxes.
“When we demanded documents to review their level of compliance, the banks refused. The recent closure hinges on the failure on the part of the banks to comply with appropriate directive, as provided by the law.”
While calling on all customers of the affected banks to be patient, Okposhi promised that the matter would soon be resolved.
He explained that the government obtained an interim order from the Nasarawa State High Court in Lafia to close down all the branches of the three affected banks in the state pending their compliance with the NSIRS directive.
“I can’t really tell what they are actually hiding; they are supposed to open their documents for us to confirm what they deducted from customers and should remit same to the state government. By remaining adamant, it implies that they have something to hide,” Okposhi said.
He added, “Our worry is that the customers are the ones receiving the heat, but it’s not our mistake. We are doing it statutorily.
“The law permits the board to take this step and statutorily, the banks are supposed to obey, but once they fail to comply, the law descends on them.”
Efforts by our correspondent to get the reaction of the bank managements failed as they could not be reached for comment.
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