The Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS) has sealed a hotel, school and some business premises in Abuja.
The affected organisations include Regency Hotels, Gratias International School, Rural and Urban Homes Ltd, Trevari International Company and Phenomenon International Company.
Festus Tsavsar, FCT-IRS Acting Director, Legal Services, who led the enforcement team, explained that the closure of the organisations was in accordance with a court order obtained by the Service.
According to him, the hotel and business premises contravened FCT tax laws by refusing to file their annual returns, despite that they had been issued several notices, including a court summon.
“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,” he said.
“We have been able to effectively comply with the court order by sealing off the premises as directed,” Tsavsar said.
“We went to Gratias International School located in Games Village, Kaura and sealed it off,” he added.
“The offence they committed was refusal to file their annual returns despite many notices, including a court summon. 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 enforce the court order,” he said.
He expressed concern over the continued refusal by the school’s management to comply with the tax law.
He added that the action was simply tax evasion, which he described as a criminal offence.
He accused the school management of changing the school’s name to evade tax. The name was changed to DGIS College.
“This is also a criminal offence. The school has not been paying their taxes at all. It also refused to file their annual returns since establishment,” he said.
The team also went to Residency Hotels, No. 4, Port Harcourt Crescent, Area II, Garki and sealed it for failure to file 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.
He, therefore, 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 Personal Income Tax Law and upon conviction they will be jailed for six months in addition to a fine,” he added.
Tsavsar warned that FCT-IRS would go after all tax-defaulting companies and individuals.
He advised taxpayers to comply with existing tax laws and file their annual returns after payment.
