Akwa Ibom sues firm over alleged N65 billion tax liabilities

The Akwa Ibom State government has dragged an oil servicing firm operating in the state, Globestar Engineering Company (Nigeria) Limited, to the state’s revenue court over its failure to remit over N65 billion in Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax liabilities covering a period 10 years

In two separate suits REV/772C/2016 and REV/15C/2016 filed against the company before the Revenue Court sitting in Uyo, the state capital, the state government is seeking the court’s declaration compelling the company to pay the sum of N65 billion in PAYE tax due and payable on income of its employees for a period of 10 years in compliance with the Personal Income Tax Act 0f 2004 as amended.

In the charge read by the state counsel, Eyo Asuquo, before the court on Friday when the matter came up for hearing, the state government accused Globestar of failing to pay the tax on its personnel under the Pay As You Earn (P.A.Y.E) scheme regulation of 2004 to the Akwa-Ibom government’s treasury.

The state government said it resorted to the court action after it discovered that many of the oil servicing companies operating in the state had failed to remit over N80 billion in PAYE tax on their over 5,000 workers, mostly expatriates, in the last 16 years.

It alleged that Globestar had no history of remittances of the PAYE taxes on the expatriates deployed to over 15 projects sites under Mobil Producing and Total (OFON) projects between 2000 and 2016.

Legal counsel to the defendant from the chambers of Adepetun, Caxton-Martins, Agbor and Segun (ACAS LAW), however prayed the court to allow both parties an out of court settlement.