Reps summon FIRS boss over tax clearance certificates issued to Procter and Gamble

House of Representatives’ Committee on Public Accounts has summoned the Chairman of Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS ), Muhammad Mami, over a tax clearance certificates issued to Procter and Gamble (P&G)

In a motion moved by  Zakaria Nyampa, the P&G, which is a firm based in the United States and was  alleged to operating in Nigeria, without payment of tax to the federal government.

Following a unanimous adoption of a motion moved by a member, Zakaria Nyampa, the committee resolved to invite the FIRS boss at its investigative hearing in Abuja on Tuesday.

The committee is investigating the company due to a query issued by the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation on its finances between 2016 and 2018.

Nyampa, moving the motion, said in the years under review, the turnover of P&G was N42bn, N41bn and N48bn respectively, while its profit was nil.

The FIRS, according to the lawmaker, needed to come and authenticate the clearance certificates paraded by P&G and explain reasons for the issuance.

He said: “Chairman, permit me to take this as a motion. Some of these years under review, 2017, 2016, 2018 where their turnover was N42bn, N41bn and N48bn and their profits were nil, and FIRS went ahead to give them tax clearance.

“I want to move a motion that we invite FIRS to authenticate these certificates and their financial returns; the things they filed that FIRS was convinced that these people should not pay tax for those years under review.”

Seconding the motion, Solomon Karen explained that based on the documents before him, he was also worried about the issue.

Karen added that as a Nigerian, he was deeply concerned about the issue and called for an in-depth investigation.

Chairman of the committee, Wole Oke, in his ruling, directed the clerk to ensure compliance with the resolution, stressing that the issuance of tax clearance certificate did not always depend of payment of taxes.

Oke harped on the need to look into the import duty documents of P&G, adding that the company imported equipment worth N6.4bn in 2017.

According to Chairman of the committee, “If you look at the acceptance given to you, dated March 6, 2017, your foreign content was N6.4bn for value of foreign content, machinery and equipment.”