Multichoice Group, a South African entertainment corporation, is allegedly not paying taxes, and the House of Representatives has ordered its Committee on Finance to look into this matter.
According to The PUNCH, the motion “Need to investigate the alleged unremitted N1.8tn and $342m tax revenues owed the Federation by Multichoice Group” was adopted before the House adopted its resolution.
A member from the Bida/Gbako/Katcha Federal Constituency in Niger State and the motion’s sponsor, Saidu Abdullahi, was invited to lead the discussion on the broad principles of the motion. He stated that “the House’s authority to investigate multichoice stems from Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitutions (as amended).
“Multichoice, a well-known international company with operations in Nigeria, has been charged with failing to pay taxes owed to the Federation, as demonstrated by information that was withheld from submissions made in their home nation,” according to Abdullahi.
The lawmaker revealed that, in 2021, the Federal Inland Revenue Service had hired a consultant under a whistleblower contract to audit Multichoice Nigeria’s and MultiChoice Africa’s tax obligations in order to determine the company’s tax indebtedness to the nation. This audit and investigation was conducted by the FIRS between 2011 and 2020.
He stated that “The House was aware of FIRS’s prior attempts to collect the overdue taxes through the legal system, including court cases and the parties’ subsequent decision to settle out of court, both of which had failed to produce the intended outcome.
“The House notes that the systems audit and investigation uncovered massive debt to the tune of $342 million in value-added tax for MultiChoice Africa and over N1.8 trillion in back taxes for MultiChoice Nigeria, that had never been paid since beginning operations in Nigeria. The Multichoice Group was assessed both amounts by the FIRS.
“Although there is outstanding tax debt, there are ongoing arrangements to sell Multichoice Nigeria and Multichoice Group subsidiaries in Nigeria to a foreign interest.”
“Nigeria may lose enormous revenue that can breathe life into the economy if urgent actions are not taken to recover the tax revenues from the Multichoice Group,” he said.
That came just after the House decided that in order to protect Nigerians’ interests, it was necessary to look into the claims and take the necessary steps.
In light of this, the House directed its Committee on Finance to look into the company’s failure to return tax income, “with a focus on the suppression of information discovered from their submissions in their home country and report back within four weeks for further legislative action.”
The House also issued a warning to prospective purchasers of Multichoice Group companies operating in Nigeria, including Multichoice Nigeria, Multichoice Africa, and others, “To be aware of the alleged outstanding indebtedness which may have been covered in their papers.”
