Bimbo Manuel and Nobert Young
Efe Ebelo / Abuja
There is no arguing the fact that corruption has eaten deep into every facet of Nigeria’s national life. The high rate of corruption in the land can be attributed to the failure of those charged with certain responsibilities to function effectively in their assignments. For instance, it is a must for all to pay taxes, partake in environmental sanitation exercises, use pedestrian bridges while crossing the expressways and other civic demands.
Unfortunately, the typical Nigerian factor has overshadowed everything else to the extent law abiding citizens are regarded as abnormal.
Irrespective of this, some government agencies are resolute on doing things right.
In its quest to change things, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in partnership with seasoned actors, has come up with a drama series, Binding Duty. It is to sensitise the public on the need to perform their civic duties especially on issues of compliance to payment of taxes.
Drama, long been identified as a useful tool for behavioural change, FIRS is determined to use it to achieve its objective of bringing as many Nigerians as possible into the tax dragnet.
Expectedly, the Service is partnering with the nation’s fledging movie industry, Nollywood, to produce series of movies on tax compliance.
Binding Duty with its first episode, The Ostrich Syndrome, attempts to re-enact compliance drive geared towards getting corporate bodies into its tax net.
The drama, produced by Ohi Alegbe and directed by Ihria Enakimio, tries to bring to the fore, the popular adage that everyday is for the thief, but one day is for the owner of the house. There is a subtle warning that there is no getting around the law without serious consequences. Parading a cast of seasoned actors like, Nobert Young, Tyna Mba , Bimbo Manuel, Gloria Young, Eric Obinna, Langley Evru and Tony Afokhai, the drama is also a warning to those who benefited from the ‘system’ that, it is no longer business as usual.
The Ostrich Syndrome centres, around a local company known as Cedars and Ebony Limited that has mastered the art of burying its head in the sand in the hope that the FIRS will ignore its tax infringements by sacking its accountants before or after tax evaluations as gimmick to avoid paying tax.
While at its games, it ironically seeks to secure government contracts which are paid for with tax payers’ money. It bided for a contract of N100million from the Ministry of Information and after bribing those in charge of the bidding process, the contract was awarded to the company. But there was a problem; the new due process regime of the government stipulates that companies intending to execute government contracts must show evidence of tax compliance. The management starts running room pillar to post trying to ways to beat the process and clinch the contract.
Unknown to the company, the FIRS which had stepped up its game, easily saw through the antics and realised that the company has a pattern of sacking its accountants within one year of engaging them in order to avoid paying the required taxes.
The FIRS then wrote to the company to approach the organization for tax reconciliation or risk closure.
The overtures of FIRS fell on deaf ears as the company thought it could find its way around the issue as usual. But it was not to be as the enforcement team of the Service swooped on the company and arrested the Managing Director as well as sealing up the company.
By coming out with The Ostrich Syndrome, the FIRS is reminding corporate Nigeria that it will continue with its tax enforcement strategy and no amount of burying corporate heads in the sand (like the proverbial ostrich is wont to do) will stop the Service from doing its duties.
According to the FIRS, many of these tax evading organisations think they are smart, by behaving like the ostrich.
Shedding more light on the thematic preoccupation of the drama series, Mr. Emmanuel Obetan, Director of Communications and Liaison of the FIRS, said most of the stories in the series are based on true life cases handled by the FIRS.
The real stories, he revealed, “Have been fictionalised to protect the identities of the actual characters but the essence, the import of the circumstances have been preserved in order to drive the objectives of the message home on the need for every citizen to comply and perform their civic duties.”
In very clear language, the drama opens up the minds of many to the dangers ahead of those who connive with touts to evade tax payment. For example, in the first episode, Short Cut, takes the viewer to the typical Nigeria way as practised in many tax offices. The CEO of Midas Ventures (Taiwo Obileye) got caught in the FIRS net because his accountant patronises touts even though the company pays its taxes regularly. Of course, ignorance of the law is no excuse so the CEO, his accountant had to face the full wrath of the law.
Speaking recently to journalists, Acting Executive Chairman of the Service, Kabir Mashi disclosed that the major challenge for now is building a sustainable tax culture among Nigerians and improving the voluntary compliance rate in Nigeria as a lot of tax payers still feel reluctant to comply with tax laws and they use all sorts of excuses.
“But I will encourage everyone to pay their taxes and then wait and see whether government will use the taxes for development or not. A situation where you don’t pay taxes and complain about lack of development is not the best. We should see ourselves as partners with government and revenue generating agencies to provide revenue for developing our country. Other than this fundamental challenge, all other challenges are normal things you experience in day to day operations. And we have the capacity to manage such challenges, which we have been doing successfully” he said.
Tax clearance certificate is one of the documents necessary for various corporate transactions in Nigeria. While some organisations find ways of cutting corners, by bribing tax officials to under assess them, others don’t bother to make payments at all.
It would be recalled that FIRS and Air Nigeria were recently at loggerheads over a disputed N5billion tax liabilities claims.
While the FIRS accused Air Nigeria of presenting a counterfeit Companies Income Tax Clearance Certificate last January to secure expatriate quotas for its workers, the airline hit back accusing the tax agency of blackmail, negligence and invasion of its office with armed policemen to demand payment of tax liabilities owed by its predecessor; Virgin Atlantic.
“In January this year, Air Nigeria presented a counterfeit Companies Income Tax Clearance Certificate purportedly issued by the FIRS, in favour of Air Nigeria Development Company Ltd,” FIRS Director, Communications and Media, Emmanuel Obeta said.
“This TCC was presented to the Interior Minister to, inter-alia renew quota positions for 20 Pilots and 10 others. Documents in possession of the FIRS show that Air Nigeria submitted a counterfeit seal of the FIRS on a Companies Income Tax Clearance Certificate purportedly issued by the FIRS.”
A team from the Debt Enforcement and Special Prosecution Unit (DESPU) of the tax agency had during its tax enforcement drive, visited the airline’s office in Lagos to recover arrears of tax revenues due to government from Withholding Tax (WHT) and Value Added Tax (VAT).
At the end of the visit, the team arrested the airline’s Managing Director, Kinfe Kayssay, after his explanation on why the company failed to remit about N4.9billion revenues from Withholding Tax (WHT) and Value Added Tax (VAT) as well as refusal to file its annual tax returns since 2011 contrary to Section 31 of the VAT Act No. 12 of 2007.