Court orders seal of Union Bank over N19.3 million tax

The Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service on Friday obtained a court warrant to seal the premises of Union Bank Plc in Kaduna over non remittance of N19.3 million.

The money is outstanding Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax liability for 2014.

The revenue service had on February 8 dragged the bank before Justice Gideon Kurada of a Kaduna High Court for the non remittance of tax liability to the tune of N19.3 million.

The counsel to the revenue service, Francis Kozah, told the court that the service conducted PAYE tax audit on the bank for 2014.

Mr. Kozah said that following the audit, the service issued a demand notice for the outstanding PAYE tax in November 2015, and demanded payment within seven working days.

He added that after exhausting all avenues of administrative redress, his client issued Union Bank a notice of intention to seal the premises as required by Section 104 of the Personal Income Tax Act as amended, 2011.

The counsel prayed the court for an order granting the service a warrant to seal the premises of the bank for not settling the outstanding tax liability.

Koza hinged his application on Section 104(3) and (4) of the Personal Income Tax Act as amended 2011, and Section 37(3) and (4) of the Kaduna State Tax (Codification and Consolidation) Law, 2016.

The sections provided that an applicant can seek for such order if a tax payer defaulted in the payment of assess tax.

In his ruling, Justice Kurada said that upon the facts presented by the applicant, there was merit in the application and it was granted.

“The applicant is hereby granted a warrant to seal the premises of Union Bank Plc in Kaduna for not settling outstanding PAYE tax liability.”

(NAN)