Staff of Access bank and their customers in Gombe were sent out of two banking halls of the bank as the Gombe State Internal Revenue Service sealed premises of the bank for defaulting in tax payment of over N118m.
Some of the customers who spoke to our correspondent after they were sent out from two branches of the bank on Biu road and new market Gombe, Monday morning, expressed anger and disappointment over the development.
Some of them were angry because their businesses transactions were abruptly stopped while others felt disappointed that after charging customers huge amounts, they were still defaulting in tax payment.
However, speaking to journalists after the exercise, the Executive Chairman of the State Internal Revenue Service, Abubakar Inuwa Tata, said their action followed a ruling of the Tax Appeal Tribunal in Bauchi, where the bank’s case was dismissed and they have to come and pay their liability of N118 million.
He explained that sometimes in the year 2020, “we made a demand for them to pay their tax liability (2008 to 2019), they rushed to Tax Appeal Tribunal Bauchi.
” They took us to court and ironically, we followed up with our legal department up to this moment when we had a ruling that their case is dismissed and they are to come and pay their liability of N118 million”, he stated.
According to him, “our consultant conducted a tax audit for 2008 to 2019. We served them and they have the right to question how we arrived at this amount.
“They should have called for Tax Audit Reconciliation Appeal Meeting where you put everything on the table and the reason for objecting the demand notice but they did not do that.
” When we insisted that they come and pay, before we knew it, by March 2020, they rushed to Tax Appeal Tribunal in Bauchi, which is a zonal Court and we started having that legal battle from that time up till this moment.
“Behold, 10th of February, 2022 (last Thursday), we had a judgment. We sought an order of disdain to ask them to pay the sum or we seal the premises.
He explained further that based on company income tax law, 30 days is given for one to object and failure to object, it becomes binding.
