By Jedidah Silas Kiman
Gombe
Gombe state Board of Internal Revenue has announced that it had embarked on bid to look inward to improve its revenue base to complementing meager grants coming to the state every month, even as it declared zero tolerance to tax evasion by private companies.
Chairman of the board, Alhaji Mua’azu Atiku, while briefing journalists after the board’s stakeholders meeting yesterday in Gombe, said it would not be business as usual when banks remitted amounts not based on their earnings.
Atiku warned that any firm that defaulted in appropriate tax remittance to the Board would be blacklisted in accordance with tax laws of the country.
He said the law must be recognised, respected and upheld by all firms operating or doing business in the state, adding that the state government had engaged a consultant, Sycamore Consultants Nigeria Limited, to co-ordinate and collect taxes on behalf of the government.
The board chairman said tax evasion was a criminal offence and punishable by law, adding that good performance by any firm would be recognised and rewarded by the state government.
According to him, the board would embark on regular checks on all firms towards ensuring that taxes were not withheld by any company.
“Action would be taken on defaulters after two weeks of notice or grace,” he said.
On his part, the Managing Director of the consulting firm, Mr. John Obagbo, said it would soon commence the auditing of banks without any notice as permitted by law to ensure total compliance.
“Gombe state was losing substantial revenue due to non-prompt payment of tax by the taxable and this must stop.”
