Lagos Govt Seals 28 Firms Over Tax Default

The Lagos State Inter
nal Revenue Service (LIRS) said it sealed 28 companies in March for defaulting in remitting N92 million personal income taxes of their workers.
The Head, Distrain Unit of the agency, Mrs Folasade Coker-Afolayan, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Lagos.
She said that the taxes were for periods ranging from 12 months to four years.
The tax officer said the affected companies included those in the manufacturing, tourism, shipping, energy and hospitality sub-sectors.
Coker-Afolayan reiterated that tax payment was a civic responsibility of citizens and the proceeds were needed by government to provide infrastructure for the populace.
“Tax is a major source of government’s revenue. It enables it to provide infrastructure and improve citizens’ standard of living,” she said.
Coker-Afolayan said that the LIRS would continue to sanction tax defaulters.
She said that some employers were fond of deducting workers’ taxes, but would fail to remit the deductions to government’s coffers and promised that LIRS would continue to enforce tax laws.
Coker-Afolayan advised companies to remit taxes promptly to avoid embarrassment, adding that it was a criminal act to tamper with government’s seals on sealed companies.
She said that the LIRS sealed 44 companies in the last two months over non-remittance of N460.6m personal income taxes of their workers.