Edo State Internal Revenue Service Sealed Benin Airport Over Unpaid Taxes

Flight and commercial activities at the Benin Airport were grounded as Edo State Internal Revenue Service sealed up Benin office yesterday over unpaid Pay As You Earn(PAYE) tax to the sum of N15million deductible from employees salary for the year 2011.Before commenting further on the above incident let us look at the provisions of the law with respect to distrain for non-payment of taxes.

Let me quote some part of the law on power to distrain:The Personal Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2011:

Power to Distrain For Non-payment of Tax states as follows:

 

Substitute for section 104 of the principal Act, a new section:

"104,(1) without prejudice to any power conferred on the relevant tax authority for the enforcement of payment of tax due from a taxable person that has been properly served with an assessment which has become final and conclusive and a demand notice has been served upon the person in accordance with the provisions of this part of this Act, or has been served upon the person, then, if payment of tax is not made within the time  the specified by the demand notice, the relevant tax authority may, in prescribed form, for the purpose of enforcing payment of tax due

 

1. Distrain the taxpayer by his goods, chattels, bond or other securities.
2. Distrain upon any land, premises or places in respect of which the taxpayer is the owner, subject to the provisions of this section, recover the amount of tax due by sale of anything so distrained.
3. For the purpose of levying any distress under this section, an officer duly authorized by the relevant authority shall apply to a judge of a High court sitting in Chambers, under oath for the issue of warrant.
4. The Judge may consider, on application made ex-parte, authorized such office

   in writing to execute any warrant of distress and, if necessary, break open any building or place in the daytime and he may call to his assistance any police officer and it shall be the duty of the police officer when so required to assist in the execution of any warrant of distress and in levying the distress.

Let me also quote the Chairman of the Edo State Internal Revenue Service, Chief Oseni Elamah

 

"In the past, we had to use judicial means to get money from them. This  time, we served them notice but they failed to respond to it. We had to serve them court notice to that effect, which they did not respond to. Hence we have to come and seal up their administrative office".(Source, The Guardian)

 

In respect to the above, my comments/opinion are as follows:

 

Because of the economic, social and security implications of sealing the administrative office of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria(FAAN), Edo State Internal Revenue Service should distrain  FAAN by taking possession of some of their assets like furniture and fittings, Motor Vehicles and equipment etc. to the sum of N15million owned by FAAN rather than sealing their administrative office.