The Senate Committee on Finance has asked the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to stop international oil companies (IOCs) evading tax from lifting crude oil.
The panel said the move has become imperative to increase government revenue base to bridge recurrent budget deficits.
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The chairman of the committee, Senator Solomon Adeola (APC, Lagos) stated this when Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, the commission’s Chief Executive, appeared before the panel during an interactive session on revenue losses in the maritime sector.
The lawmaker said from the preliminary findings by the committee, there was the need for investigations of all foreign companies lifting Nigeria crude oil in relation to their compliance with tax obligations according to the country’s extant laws.
“The committee is directing your commission to stop all companies lifting crude oil from Nigeria until they show evidence of tax payment as they are mandated by law to pay.
“Alternatively, the companies can do a payment on account based on estimates to continue to lift Nigeria crude oil pending a time when proper reconciliation will be done on their tax liabilities in the last ten years of operation,” Adeola said.
The chairman of the committee disclosed that at least over 100 of such entities have been lifting crude oil in Nigeria without paying a dime in taxes.
“Henceforth, NUPRC unlike the way the defunct DPR operated must ensure that any firm lifting crude oil must have a tax clearance from FIRS.
“We are going to investigate about 100 companies lifting our crude oil without paying any tax as there are no record of such payment with FIRS. We must recover all our revenues from this source,” the lawmaker added.
Senator Adeola stated that the committee is not ruling out the existence of a cartel that may be behind this huge tax evasion in dollars.
He stressed that there should be synergy between maritime agencies like Nigeria Ports Authority, NPA, Nigerian Maritime and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Nigerian Navy, NUPRC, NNPC and FIRS on the issue of tax revenue from the maritime sector.
Engr. Komolafe had earlier said his agency was still in the process of unbundling from the old DPR.
He promised to provide the committee list of companies lifting crude oil from Nigeria.
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