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Telecom giant, MTN, will have to pay the Nigerian government a total of $10.1 billion of it protests and appeals against recent sanctions and revelations fail.
On Tuesday, the Federal Government asked MTN Nigeria to pay fresh $2bn in tax arrears on imported equipment and payments to suppliers.
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, in a letter to the company, said the import duties, Value Added Tax and withholding taxes on foreign imports/payments dated back to 10 years.
“The attorney general notified MTN that his office made a high-level calculation that MTN Nigeria should have paid approximately $2bn in taxes relating to the importation of foreign equipment and payments to foreign suppliers over the last 10 years,” a statement signed by the Public Relations Manager, MTN Nigeria Limited, Funso Aina, stated on Tuesday.
But MTN rejected the request, saying it has fully settled all fees owed to the Federal Government.
In a conference call with investors, MTN indicated that the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) assumed a flat tax rate in its calculations, compared with a reality of different rates.
The fresh demand is coming barely one week after the Central Bank of Nigeria asked the company and its bankers to refund $8.1bn it repatriated from the country.
READ: MTN replies CBN, denies repatriating $8.1bn illegally
Speaking on the attorney general’s demand notice for historical tax obligations, MTN’s Corporate Relations Executive, Tobe Okigbo, was quoted as saying, “MTN has conducted a detailed review of these claims and provided evidence of tax remittance to the attorney general’s office. The attorney general’s notice indicates that he is rejecting this evidence.
“We believe that all taxes due to the Nigerian government have been paid and these allegations have not been raised by any of the revenue generating agencies that MTN engages with regularly, and from whom MTN has received numerous awards for compliance.”