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© Reuters.
Camillos Ebo
Abuja (Reuters)-Nigeria’s tax services department said on Thursday that it had instructed banks to freeze the accounts of media entertainment company MultiChoice Africa and its Nigerian subsidiary on the grounds that they violated the agreement and refused to access its records for audit.
These companies are part of the South Africa-based MultiChoice Group, which provides television and other entertainment services in Africa.
MultiChoice is the latest South African company to face huge taxes in Nigeria. Previously, the Nigeria branch of MTN Group was ordered to pay US$2 billion in 2018 in taxes related to imported equipment and payments to foreign suppliers between 2007 and 2017. The demand for taxation is ultimately declining.
In the latest case, the Federal Revenue Service of Nigeria (FIRS) stated in a statement that it has appointed commercial banks and agents to recover 1.8 trillion naira (US$4.4 billion) in outstanding taxes from MultiChoice Africa and MultiChoice Nigeria .
FIRS said: “It was discovered that these companies have been violating all agreements and commitments with the service. They will not respond to communications in a timely manner. They lack data integrity and are not transparent because they continue to deny FIRS access to their records.”
“These companies are involved in insufficient tax remittances and require strict review of the company’s tax compliance level.”
After FIRS issued a statement, MultiChoice Group’s stock price fell 3.73% at 0923 GMT.
South Africa’s MultiChoice Group and its Nigerian subsidiary said they will issue a statement soon.
MultiChoice Group was spun off from Naspers, Africa’s largest company by market capitalization, in early 2019. The reported revenue mainly comes from two parts-South Africa and other parts of Africa.
The company stated in its annual report as of March 31 that revenue from other parts of Africa accounted for one-third of its revenue, with the largest market being Nigeria.
(1 USD = 411.0000 naira)
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