October 30, (THEWILL) – MultiChoice Africa Holdings (MAH), the parent company of MultiChoice Nigeria, has rejected the ruling of the Tax Appeal Tribunal on the $342m Value Added Tax (VAT) by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
The company, which made its position known in a statement on Wednesday evening, also said it would lodge an appeal against the ruling at the Federal High Court, adding that the TAT ruling was based on a technicality rather than the merits of the case.
“MAH respectfully disagrees with the ruling, which was based on a technicality rather than the merits of the case. Therefore, we will be lodging an appeal at the Federal High Court against the ruling.
“This tax appeal is a separate and distinct matter from the appeal launched by MultiChoice Nigeria (MCN), in which the TAT found in MCN’s favour last week, allowing it to proceed with that appeal,” the company stated.
THEWILL recalls that on June 16, 2021, the FIRS served a notice of unpaid VAT on MultiChoice Africa Holdings B.V. The FIRS claimed that the company had not remitted VAT since inception, a claim it has disputed.
Consequently, the FIRS in August claimed that the tribunal had ordered Multichoice Nigeria Limited to pay 50 per cent of the N1.8tn which it had determined to be the amount the company had evaded in tax payments.
MultiChoice Nigeria however faulted the FIRS, claiming that TAT did not compel it to pay 50 per cent of the N1.8tn disputed tax assessment.
While delivering judgment on the appeal filed by MultiChoice; the Tribunal upheld the preliminary objection of the FIRS against the appeal of MultiChoice Africa Holdings B.V.
The Tribunal ruled that the firm did not comply with existing tax laws; specifically, Order 3 Rule 6 of the Tax Appeal Tribunal (Procedure) Rules, 2021; which stipulates that an appellant is to deposit half of the assessed amount it is disputing before it can be heard on appeal.
In addition to depositing the sum; the appellant is expected to file along with its appeal an affidavit verifying the payment.
The Tribunal also stated that MultiChoice equally failed to comply with this procedure and held that the sum is to be paid as a security for the hearing of any tax appeal. With the ruling, the FIRS is expected to enforce the payment of the principal sum of $123.7 million; being unpaid VAT by MultiChoice Africa Holdings B.V; as well as interest and penalty at $218 million, amounting to over $342 million
