LAGOS State government threatened that it will commence the process of shutting down the corporate headquarters of organisations in the state who have defaulted in remitting the statutory tax to the government.
Commissioner for Finance, Mr Akinyemi Ashade, gave the threat in a statement made available to newsmen, even as he said that some banks had failed to remit statutory taxes, including withholding taxes on bank interest for more than 10 years.
Ashade, while noting that prompt payment of tax would enable the government to provide the necessary infrastructure and improve the standard of living of the people, said the state government had resolved to resort to all lawful means to ensure compliance with statutory tax remittances, warning that any company found to have evaded tax would not be spared.
He further warned that it was 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.
“The government will on Monday, November 20, commence the process of shutting down the headquarters of 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,” Ashade said.
“Prompt payment of tax will enable the government to provide the necessary infrastructure and improve the standard of living of the people, but when people pay their taxes promptly, the 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 added.
It would be recalled that the state government had last week directed all its revenue agencies to ensure prompt payment of taxes, including Land Use charges and also commence enforcement of payment by all tax defaulters with immediate effect.
It had lamented that many residents were not fulfilling their civic obligation of paying their taxes and that the prevailing situation would adversely affect government’s infrastructural renewal drive currently ongoing across the state, thus necessitating the decision to go all out to recover unremitted taxes.