By Danjuma Williams (Gombe State Correspondent)
Gombe State Internal Revenue Service has sealed two premises of Access bank in Gombe for defaulting in tax payment of over N118 million.
Some customers and Staff of the bank were sent out of the banking halls of the two banks on Monday morning, February 14, 2022, at the peak of business when officials of the Revenue Service stormed the premises with a court judgement.
The customers who spoke to our correspondent on Biu road and new market Gombe, Monday morning, expressed anger and disappointment over the development.
They expressed anger over the abrupt stoppage of their businesses transactions 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, were 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 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 judgement. 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.
Tata stressed that, " you can say no, you can't pay and these are your reasons, but you cannot blatantly ignore, fail to reply, and fail to do anything ", he insisted.
He however assured that, " If I receive alert today of payment of N118 million, I'll come and remove the seal on the bank and they'll continue operations till the end of the day". NNL.
