$9.8bn Unpaid Taxes Owed By Oil Companies, Others Recovered By NEITI

neiti_logo_227167869

Unremitted taxes amounting to $9.8 billions (N1.538 trillion) by oil companies, has been uncovered by Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI.

The unremitted taxes resulted from under-payment of taxes and rents, through under-assessment, process manipulation and poor management of agreements between the Federal Government and different companies.

NEITI Chairman, Ledum Mitee, disclosed this to newsmen after meeting with the president. Mitee however said NEITI had been able to recover $2 billion (N314 billion), being money owed the Federal Government as unremitted taxes by companies operating in oil, gas and mineral sectors of the economy.

He lamented that the cut in agency’s budgetary allocation was negatively affecting its operations, adding that between 2011 and 2013, the agency’s budget had been reduced by about 50 percent, a situation he added was affecting its smooth operation.

“What we have tried to identify is that between 2011 and 2013, there has been some 50 percent reduction in our budgetary allocation which we thought was threatening the smooth operation of our work.

“The fact that we won an international award at the Sydney global EITI conference last month where Nigeria was adjudged the best country in compliance with its standards.

“Our responsibility is to identify gaps. The key issue which came out of the meeting was that we have to close the gap between what NEITI is doing and what the economic management team is doing”.