Metro

FCTA seals school, hotel, others over tax evasion

The Federal Capital Territory (FCTA), via its revenue collection agency, the Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS), has sealed Regency Hotels, a school, and three business premises in the capital city for tax evasion.

The FCT-IRS acting director of legal services, Mr Festus Tsavsar, who led the enforcement team, explained to newsmen on Thursday that the closure of the premises was in line with a court order obtained by the IRS.

The school and business premises are Gratias International School, Rural and Urban Homes Ltd., Trevari International Company, and Phenomenon International Company.

Tsavsar explained that the hotel and business premises contravened FCT tax laws by refusing to file their annual returns, despite issuing several notices, including a court summons.

“Today we went out to execute the court orders, which ordered the FCT-IRS to seal off the premises of defaulting taxpayers that were brought before it. We have been able to effectively comply with the court order by sealing off the premises as directed.

“We went to Gratias International School, located in Games Village, Kaura, and sealed it off. The offence they committed was the refusal to file their annual returns despite many notices, including a court summons, but the school management refused to comply.

“We are at their premises, and the management refused to attend to us and refused to open their doors, despite many calls for them to do so to enable us to enforce the court order,” he said.

He expressed concern over the continued refusal by the school’s management to comply with the tax law, adding that the action was simply tax evasion, which he described as a criminal offence.

He added that to worsen the case, the management had changed their name to DGIS College to evade tax payments.

“This is also a criminal offence. The school has not been paying their taxes at all and has also refused to file their annual returns since its establishment,” he said.

The team also sealed Residency Hotels, No. 4, Port Harcourt Crescent, Area II, Garki, for not filing annual returns.

“From there, we went to seal off Rural Urban Homes Ltd. in Utako and two business premises residing in Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, namely Trevari International Company and Phenomenon International Company,” he said.

He warned the affected business owners against any attempt to unseal the premises and advised them to go to court to obtain a court order before they could do so.

“If they go against the court order and unseal the premises by themselves, they have committed a criminal offence, and the court will order their arrest.

“They will be prosecuted in line with the tax law, particularly Section 81 of the Personal Income Tax Law, and upon conviction, they will be jailed for six months in addition to a fine,” he added.

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