The Tax Appeal Tribunal sitting in Ibadan on Thursday ordered Honeywell Flour Mills Plc to pay the sum of N133,612,401.43k to the Ogun Internal Revenue Service being PAYE Tax Assessment for 2011 to 2016.
By the order of the tribunal, the appellant, Honeywell, is to make the payment within 30 days.
Honeywell had through its counsel, Olawale Adedamola, filed an appeal on June 29, 2018, seeking the leave of the tribunal to set aside a Revised Total Tax Assessment of the said amount issued by the revenue body.
Adedamola said that the respondent, Ogun Internal Revenue Service, had refused to amend the tax assessment after his client had objected to it.
“We are contending that the employees in respect of whom the respondent raised the assessment are resident in Lagos and not in Ogun.
“As a result, they have paid their Personal Income Tax to the Lagos State Government and not to the government of Ogun,” he said.
However, the respondent, through its counsel, Temidayo Sokunbi, claimed that going by the enumeration conducted in Ogun, the employees in question reside in Ogun and not in Lagos.
“They are, therefore, liable to pay their PAYE tax to the Ogun government and not to Lagos,” said Sokunbi.
Having examined all exhibits and witnesses, the Chairman of the tribunal, Ajibola Akinmade, ordered the appellant to make the payment as issued by the respondent within 30 days.
“The panel, upon consideration of each question arising from the reliefs sought by the appellant in which statutory and judicial authorities was copiously referred to, hold in favour of the respondent, Ogun State Internal Revenue Service.
“The onus of proving that the assessment complained of is excessive shall be on the appellant; a burden which the appellant has failed to discharge.
“The tribunal, therefore, holds that the respondent’s notice of revised assessment dated 4th May 2018, for the sum of N133,612,401.43k, is, hereby, confirmed,” said Akinmade.