IRS seals off NTA Calabar over alleged tax evasion
THE Nigerian Television Authority, Channel 9, Calabar, has been sealed off for alleged tax evasion.
The Cross River Internal Revenue Service (IRS) yesterday sealed off the premises over alleged evasion of Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax payment from 2006 to 2012.
Following the seal off with red tapes, all members of staff were forced to leave the station and work put on hold.
The exercise was carried out by a team of IRS officials and gun-wielding policemen led by Mr. Ata Emmanuel, who said they were acting on the directives of the revenue court’s judgment.
Emmanuel, an Assistant Director in the state IRS, said the court order No. RCT/MSC/6/2014 to seal off the NTA premises came from Cross River Chief Judge, Justice Okoi Itam.
Justice Itam’s “Warrant of Detrain”, obtained by The Guardian, directed that the warrant ought to be issued against the NTA Calabar’s goods, chattels, lands, premises or place, bonds and securities for non-payment of more than N42.5 million.
It stated that the amount represented “outstanding tax liability payable by the respondent to the applicant under the PAYE deductions, and development levy for the period of 2006-2011.”
Emmanuel said: “The court gave us restrain orders to come and shut down the place. We are working with their members of staff. When we came, we explained and showed them the court orders and some of them said they are not coming out except they take orders from the General Manager (GM). This one is not a matter of GM again, when you receive a court order, you obey it. The GM too will have to obey the order.
“You know when you have a court order, you have to come with civil agent, that is the police and they were all saying we came to harass them, we are not here to harass them.”
