Lagos, Feb. 9, 2024 – MultiChoice Group, owner of DStv and Gotv, has agreed to pay N35.4 billion to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) as part of its tax obligations to the Federal Government.
This amount represents just about 10 per cent of the initial claim by the FIRS before the negotiation.
The group said in a statement that the N35.4 billion would be offset against the security deposits and good faith payments made to date.
This follows the country’s Federal Inland Revenue Service decision to freeze MultiChoice Nigeria’s accounts in 2022 after serving the Group with a 1.8 trillion naira ($1.27 billion) tax claim for its Nigeria operation and a $342 million claim for value-added taxes.
The tax agency claimed that it relied on the power it derived from Section 49 of the Companies Income Tax Act of 2004 as amended and Section 31 of the FIRS (Establishment) Act No. 13 of 2007.
The FIRS also explained that the decision to appoint the banks as agents and to freeze the accounts was a result of the groups’ continued refusal to grant FIRS access to their servers for audit. (GBN)
