CEM REPORT, FINANCE | Courier Plus Services Ltd, NTS Nigeria Ltd, and 32 other corporate organizations have been shut down by the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) over non-remittance of their employees’ Personal Income Tax (PIT) and Consumption Taxes to the Lagos State Government.
According to the Director of Legal Services of LIRS, Seyi Alade, the tax obligations of the affected companies and hotels collectively amounted to more than N356.12 million.
Alade said that the earring companies routinely deduct Personal Income Taxes from their employees’ monthly salaries and levy consumption taxes on the goods and services purchased by their customers but failed to remit such taxes to the Lagos State Government as required by the state tax laws.
“These companies routinely deduct Personal Income Taxes from their employees’ monthly salaries and levy consumption taxes on the goods and services purchased by their customers. Unfortunately, some unscrupulous businesses withhold these payments, unlawfully diverting the funds for their purposes.”
The enforcement exercise has so far seen the closure of 34 corporate organization in a move to ensure citizens and organizations contributes their quota to the state development and grow the state revenue.
He warned that the agency would persist and intensify enforcement of existing tax regulations targeting all non-compliant companies, hotels, restaurants, and individuals within the state.
He advised defaulting entities to promptly rectify their tax positions and comply with prevailing regulations in effect within Lagos State.
Companies affected by this enforcement action are NTS Nigeria Ltd., Med-In Hospital & Pharma Services Ltd., Danvic Petroleum Int’l Ltd., Business Intelligence Technology, Avaya Nigeria Ltd., Gladstone Tech Ltd., Courier Plus Services Ltd., Kurioucity Ltd., Medilag Ventures Ltd., Future Oilfields, and Seven Six & Ten Limited.
Also, 23 hotels, restaurants, and event facilities were also shut over their failure to properly deduct and remit Consumption taxes, thereby impacting the state’s revenue collection efforts.
Lagos State tax collection system must be quite effective since the state Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) tops other states. While it can be argued that Lagos has more population and industries as a commercial city, its IGR can still be struggling if an effective tax collecting system is not in place. But still, no system is perfect or strong enough to beat a determined invader.
According to the Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Ope George, Lagos State government generated an Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of approximately N400 billion as of June 2023.
NBS reports that Lagos State generated an IGR of ₦651.2 billion as of the close of 2022. The record figure placed ahead of every other state. Lagos state is Nigeria’s biggest economy, and the fifth biggest economy in Africa. Its GDP in 2022 stood at over $100 billion.
