The Nation Newspaper

Tag: defaulting

  • Lagos to shut tax defaulting firms

    Lagos to shut tax defaulting firms

    Tax defaulting firms are to be shut down by the Lagos State Government from today Commissioner for Finance Akinyemi Ashade, said yesterday.

    He said some banks had failed to remit statutory taxes, including withholding taxes on banks’ interests for more than 10 years.

    Ashade said the government had resolved to resort to all lawful means to ensure compliance with statutory tax remittances.

    “Any company found to have evaded tax will not be spared.

    “It is in the interest of defaulting companies and their management to remit the statutory taxes to the state within the grace period to avoid embarrassment to them and their shareholders.

    “All law abiding corporate organisations are advised to adhere to this directive as the state government has given enough grace period for them to remit their taxes.

    “The government will on Monday, November 20, commence the process of shutting down the headquarters of corporate organisations, including banks that have failed to remit statutory taxes to government coffers,’’ Ashade said in a statement.

    He said prompt payment of taxes would enable the government to provide the necessary infrastructure and improve the standard of living of the people.

    “When people pay their taxes promptly, government is encouraged to do more. The administration of Akinwunmi Ambode has shown in the last two and half years that taxes paid are judiciously spent on projects that have impacted positively on the lives of residents,’’ the statement said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the government had on November 7, lamented that only about 600,000 residents out of a population of over 22 million were up to date in terms of tax compliance.

    The government, therefore, directed all its revenue agencies to ensure prompt payment of taxes, including land use charges and also commence enforcement of payment by all tax defaulters with immediate effect.

    Read Also: Lagos goes after tax defaulters

  • ‘Bayelsa not a leading salary defaulting state’

    The Bayelsa State government has faulted the claim by President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Wabba, that it is one of the biggest defaulting states in salary payment.

    Commissioner for Information and Orientation Daniel Iworiso-Markson said yesterday that Wabba’s assertion is misleading and mischievous.

    According to him, the report was done in bad faith because it lacked substance, as it did not reflect the true position of things in the state.

    Iworiso-Markson added that the government had been most concerned, and had over time, taken salary payment seriously, and did not owe workers till date.

    “Those who authored the story failed to cross check their facts before going to press,” he said.

    The Commissioner explained that the Dickson-led Restoration government had always fulfilled its salary obligations until recently, occasioned by the free fall in the state’s monthly allocation from the Federal Government.

    He said government borrowed to make up for the shortfall to ensure that salaries were paid, adding that while borrowing to pay salaries was not sustainable, the government decided to look inwards by taking steps to strengthen the internal revenue board to improve on the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) profile.

    “As at now, the government does not owe salaries, as we have kept faith with payment since the beginning of the year till date,” he added.

    “All council workers should resume a full strike if the government fails to reverse the directive within the three days, since the last strike was only suspended.

    “Accordingly, all branch executives of NULGE and MHWUN, in the eight councils and 32 Rural Development Authorities, are directed to fully shut down all health facilities, markets and secretariats of the councils beginning from November 9.

    “NULGE and MHWUN will no longer allow any external and fake report to infringe on the autonomy of the councils as a third tier of government in the country.”

  • Ex-commissioner seeks prosecution of defaulting NDDC contractors

    A former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Akwa Ibom State, Chef Victor Iyanam, has called for the arrest and prosecution of contractors who abandoned projects of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), if they fail to return to site.

    Works Commissioner Ephraim Inyang recently blew the whistle on contractors, mainly members of his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who allegedly abandoned NDDC projects in the last 16 years.

    In a programme on Planet FM, a private radio station in Uyo, monitored by our reporter, Iyanam said the prosecution of such contractors was necessary to restore sanity to the system and serve as a deterrent to others.

    He said: “Those contractors must be prosecuted and made to refund the money they collected. If people are not punished for committing crimes against the people, they would continue to do so.”

    He said it was irritating that Inyang was championing the campaign against NDDC whereas he is “a man who has his hands full with uncompleted and abandoned projects of the state government”.

    Iyanam said the attacks on the NDDC Managing Director, Obong Nsima Ekere, allegedly sponsored by the state government, were because of the perception that he was interested in the 2019 governorship race and not because he was responsible for the abandonment of the projects, since he was barely six months in office.

  • Pension remittance: Recovery agents go after 8,584 defaulting firms

    The National Pension Commission (PenCoM) has made good its threat of recovering workers’pension deductions withheld by some employers.

    It has asked Recovery Agents to collect all outstanding remitances. from defaulting firms. The exercise has recorded progress, according to the Chairman of the Pension Operators of Nigeria (PenOp), Mr Dave Udeanu.

    Udeanu told The Nation that the Recovery Agents have visited 8,584 of 15,760 defaulting firms.

    He said:“Recovery agents appointed by the National Pension Commission to go after companies, or organisations that failed to remit their employees’ contributions to Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), have made progress by visiting 8,584 of such firms and recovered various amounts from some of them.”

    He said as at the end of January, the liabilities from the firms visited stood at N2.5 billion. Demand notices have been sent to them; the accounts of the Pension Fund Custodians to remit the monies and how the remitances should be made have been forwarded to them.”

    The Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2004 made it compulsory for companies seeking government business to present certificates of compliance, which indicates that they are meeting the regulation on staff pension contributions.

    The PRA 2004 also mandates employers with minimum of five staff to subscribe to the new pension scheme.

    To ensure enforcement of the law, the commission said employers who fail to remit their pension contributions would pay two per cent surcharge, two weeks after deductions have been made by them.

    PenCom noted that employers are to remit employees contributions not later than seven working days from the day salary is paid, adding that if the default persists after three months, one per cent of the outstanding would be paid to the commission.

    The co

    The Organised Private Sector (OPS) has taken over the lead in pension contributions from the public sector which has been at the fore-front since 2004 when the contributory scheme became operational.

    Udeanu said the OPS has performed tremendously well, as organisations in the sector are complying with the scheme by remitting their contributions promptly.

    He said: “The organised private sector has done very well. Often time, we talk of the public sector, but we should give credit to the private sector, for most of them treat pension as they treat salary. It is important to encourage them for they have turned out to be the strongest pillar or supporters of the scheme. The private sector has overtaken the public sector in terms of registration of contributors.”

    Udeanu also disclosed that as part of efforts aimed deepening the sector, pension operators and the National Pension Commission (PenCom) are working out ways of integrating the over 40 million workers in the informal sector into the scheme. He noted that the framework to that effect will soon be finalised.

    He said PenCom will also before the end of the first quarter of this year, incorporate a multi-fund structure for Retirement Saving Accounts (RSA) funds, into the amended investment guidelines.

    “The decision to introduce the multi-fund structure in the first quarter of 2013` is to allow enough time for public education and sensitisation by the commission and also allow operators enough time to be ready to implement the structure.

    “The multi-fund would be primarily differentiated by their overall exposure to variable income instruments and a contributor’s choice of funds may be limited based on the age of the contributor. Also the multi-fund structure would likely also allow for the introduction of a non-interest or ethical fund,” he said.

    The Managing Director, Legacy Pension Managers Limited, Mr Misbahu Yola, said most of the big companies treat pension deduction and remittance the same way they treat salaries. This is what it is supposed to be, he said; adding that it is important to encourage them.

    He said when the scheme started initially, employers felt it was another burden on them but that now most of them understand what they government meant by taking that decision.

    He, however, said many employers are not still complying.