The Borno State Internal Revenue Service (BO-IRS) yesterday sealed 30 business premises including shopping plazas over N23.8 million tax liabilities.
The Executive Director Enforcement and Board Secretary, Ardo Buba, told Daily Trust in Maiduguri, the state capital, yesterday after the exercise that the service had obtained a court order to seal the premises for defaulting on tax payment.
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The affected shopping plazas are Fadila Shopping Complex, Gudumbali Plaza, Royal Shopping Complex and Kwali-Kwali Plaza among others.
Buba said the action was in line with the provisions of Section 104 (3) and (4) of the Personal Income Tax (Amendment) Act, 2011, and sections 54 and 109 of the Tax Codification and Consolidation Law, 2020, as amended.
“Before BOIRS embarks on sealing, it must send two letters to the management of the affected owners, reminding it of tax liabilities. We served them notice twice but they all failed to honour them.
“We were left with no option but to go to court and obtain the order to close the offices and recover the tax due to the state, and the exercise will continue until all comply with the tax law,” he said.
According to him, the tax liabilities are based on assessment from 2021, adding that the service had served them notice several times but they refused to oblige.
He admonished other business operators in the state to settle their outstanding tax liabilities or face the same fate.