Nigeria: Seven UN Companies Accused of Tax Evasion in Borno

The Borno authorities acknowledged that though the international authorized pointers regulating the operations of the UN blueprint exempt them from paying tax as entities, it doesn’t practice to their workers.

Seven companies of the United Nations (UN) were on Wednesday indicted for tax evasion by the Borno Enlighten Interior Earnings Carrier (BO-IRS).

The seven companies, in keeping with the convey’s earnings service, are the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), the United Nations Price for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Youngsters Fund (UNICEF), World Meals Programme (WFP), United Nations Vogue Programme (UNDP), Meals and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), and the World Neatly being Organisation (WHO).

The agency acknowledged that though the international authorized pointers regulating the operations of the UN blueprint exempt them from paying tax as entities, it doesn’t practice to their workers, in particular the local manpower and contracting companions.

Mohammad Alkali, the chief chairman of the Borno earnings board, suggested journalists at a press convention on Wednesday that whereas diversified UN our bodies “contend with the IOM safe complied to the extant authorized pointers that compel Nigerian working for UN or foreign organisations to be conscious the non-public earnings tax authorized pointers, the aforementioned seven UN companies had refused to comply despite all efforts save in to manufacture them enact the requisite.”

The UN companies, he acknowledged, “are mandated by the provision of the Deepest Earnings Tax CAP P8 Guidelines of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 to remit to the convey authorities what’s identified as PAYE and Withholding Tax for their personnel and particular person and mission contractors respectively.

“Varied UN companies and NGOs who are equally in broad taxpayer category are already complying with the provisions of the extant authorized pointers as referenced above.”

Mr Alkali acknowledged his board had made a “sequence of concerted efforts and engagements… which culminated into forwarding of various correspondences to make certain that the listed organisations and companies voluntarily be conscious the relevant tax authorized pointers but to no avail.”

He acknowledged the BO-IRS became as soon as attentive to the protocols limiting the humanitarian our bodies from compelling workers to pay tax, “that became as soon as why we demanded them to furnish us with the uncooked info of their workers to boot as particular person and mission contractors for us to interface with them straight but to no avail.

“So, BO-IRS is left with out a option than to make suppose of legit capacity to compel them to enact so. And now we safe already taken steps by serving the UN Companies herein mentioned inspect of seizure of properties which is ensuing from lapse on 24th February 2022,” he acknowledged.

The agency acknowledged it would per chance most seemingly well be relying on Portion 68 of the Harmonised Earnings Law for enforcement utilizing personnel of the Nigeria police and their internal enforcement team.

Mr Alkali well-known that the convey governor, Babagana Zulum, became as soon as attentive to the train.

“It became as soon as even the governor that encouraged us to liaise with the UNOCHA thru his adviser on INGO affairs, Mairo Mandara, by writing to them, which we did continuously however the seven of them failed to comply”.

“They (some officials of OCHA) came to our set of enterprise in June 2021 to save a matter to for the shrimp print of what we wanted and after that, they went away and omitted us,” he added.

PREMIUM TIMES reached out to all seven companies but ultimate bought a response from UNICEF on my own.

In step with Geoffery Njoku, a communications officer for the agency, “we are UN, we enact not pay tax. We pay to the UN… it is advisable to take into accout the very fact that.”

Also, Christina Powell, public info officer of OCHA, in an e-mail response to PREMIUM TIMES acknowledged, “OCHA doesn’t safe a observation to present at present regarding your question.”

On the other hand, some UN officials who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES in confidence, suggested this newspaper that the UN became as soon as in talks with the authorities and would per chance most seemingly merely acknowledge officially in due time.