From Yakubu Mustapha Minna
Niger State Internal Revenue Service under the leadership of Muhammad Etsu Madami has secured a court judgement in its case against Stanbic IBTC Bank.
Honourable Richard Bala-led Panel of the North Central Zone Tax Appeal Tribunal while dismissing the appeal of the Bank
held in Jos, ruled that the case lacks merit, adding that the appellant did not present any evidence to be granted the reliefs sought.
The Tribunal further added that the Niger State Internal Revenue Service has the constitutional and statutory right to distrain any tax defaulter in the state.
The Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc has been in a legal dispute with the Service as to the status and payment of the sum of (N54,245,812) as unremitted Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) for the twenty eighteen and twenty twenty tax years, and a further revised assessment payment of the sum of (N6.395,447,40k) demanded by the Revenue Service for non-filling and late filling of monthly returns on new customer accounts for the period of 2011 and 2021.
Upon the rejection of these demands by Stanbic IBTC, the Niger State Internal Revenue Service finally issued the Notice of Refusal to Amend (NORA) with a further threat to execute distrain against the bank.
On the alleged distrain, the tribunal clarified that Niger State Internal Revenue Service has a right to distrain any tax defaulter the moment the tax assessment becomes final and conclusive.
The tribunal held that Stanbic IBTC did not placed any evidence before the Tribunal to be entitled to the reliefs sought, and dismissed the case for lacking merit.
In its submission to the Tribunal, the Revenue Service further argued that Stanbic IBTC failed to challenge the said assessment within the time allowed by law and by implication, it has failed to activate the jurisdiction of the Tribunal and therefore urged the court to dismiss the appeal with cost.
The Tribunal in its ruling maintained that Stanbic IBTC failed to attack the legal validity or otherwise of the bank’s NORA of 24th December, 2021 neither was there a specific prayer made by the bank requesting the Tribunal to quash the NORA in question, that Stanbic IBTC dissipated so much man hours and industry on an alleged threat by the Respondent to shut down and seal the business premises.
