LASG: Banks Failed to Remit 10-year Taxes

•Sets Nov 20 to shut defaulting banks, firms •LASAA issues compliance notice on outdoor advertising firms
Gboyega Akinsanmi
The Lagos State Government yesterday disclosed that some banks had failed to remit their statutory taxes including withholding taxes on interest for more than one decade, thereby warning against tax default and evasion.

Consequently, the state government said it would begin shutting down the head offices of all corporate organisations in the state that had either evaded taxes or defaulted in remitting their statutory taxes from November 20.
The Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Akinyemi Ashade, gave the deadline in a statement yesterday, saying the state government would commence full-scale enforcement against all corporate organisations flouting its tax laws.

 In a statement by its Commissioner for Information & Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, penultimate week, the state government had lamented the rise in the number of tax defaulters and evaders in the state, thereby directing all its revenue agencies to commence enforcement of payment by all tax defaulters with immediate effect.

The state government had lamented that 600,000 residents out of 4.9 million taxable residents “are up to date in paying their taxes,” a situation he said was not helpful to scale up the provision of infrastructure and other amenities for the people.

Citing the effect of tax default and evasion on infrastructure renewal and development, Ashade disclosed that some banks “have failed to remit statutory taxes including withholding taxes on bank interest for more than 10 years.”
He, therefore, said the enforcement agencies would commence the process of shutting down the head offices of all corporate organisations that had defaulted in remitting statutory taxes to the state government from November 20.

 He said the state government had resolved to explore all lawful means to ensure compliance with statutory tax remittances, warning that any corporate organisation found to have defaulted or evaded tax would not be spared.
The commissioner added that 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.

 “On November 20, the state government will commence the process of shutting down the corporate organisations, including banks who have failed to remit statutory taxes to government coffers. It is in the interest of companies who are yet to remit their taxes to do so on or before Monday.”

He said payment of taxes “will enable the state government to provide the necessary infrastructure and improve the standard of living of the people. When people pay their taxes promptly, the state government is encouraged to do more.
“The administration of Governor 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 Lagos citizens,” Ashade said.
At a stakeholders’ forum with outdoor advertisement practitioners at the weekend, the Managing Director of Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA) said the agency would start clamping down on all outdoor advertising companies owing the agency.

The managing director explained that the agency had just finished its strategy session “to know how best to enforce those on our debtors’ list. We are scaling up our compliance and enforcement exercise to ensure that all pending outstanding dues to the agency are paid up on or beforeDecember 31.
“For clarity, we have categorized our enforcement teams into billboards, business signs and mobile advert vehicles. For billboards, we are going after all the defaulters who have refused to pay up their yearly permit fees.

“In line with our collection model, all billboard owners are subjected to a payment plan every year and we have discovered that 60 percent of the categories that are supposed to have paid up their outstanding to the agency are still in default.”
He explained that corporate businesses “are also going to feel the enforcement exercise. Some big corporate organisations are still in default for their business premises’ signs and the branding on their official vehicles. We will ensure they are all captured for enforcement.”

He stressed the need for businesses “to always ensure tax compliance at all times rather than wait for government agencies to carry out enforcement. The revenue forms a reasonable fraction of what the state needs to provide its superstructure infrastructural demands of the state.

He, therefore, said it was imperative for all those owing the state, not only in the outdoor advertising sector but also in other spheres of public commitment to the government to pay their taxes up to date to avoid undue penalty.
He explained that the Ambode administration “has been delivering and meeting public expectations in this regard,” noting that the LASAA “is committed to the growth of the outdoor industry as well as the aesthetic of the commercial city of Lagos.”
He urged all the stakeholders in the industry “to join hands with LASAA to move the industry forward in the area of professionalism and prompt payment of rates.”