Tax evasion: Senate indicts AGF’s office over lost N378 million tax revenue

The Senate Committee has indicted certain officials in the office of Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) for allowing a private firm to shortchange the nation to the tune of N378 million in Withholding Tax.

The Senate query was sequel to the 2015 Audit Report against the office of Accountant General of the Federation that N3.7 billion was paid to Webb Fountain Ltd without deduction of Withholding Tax leading to loss of tax revenue of N378 million to Federal Government.

Webb Fontaine is a Port Community System Software which provides an interface between port authorities, terminal operators and Customs, offering a comprehensive set of features designed for the facilitation of port logistics operations.

According to the Auditor General’s report, the private firm was granted exemption from payment of Withholding Tax arbitrarily.

The report which was upheld by the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, led by Senator Mathew Urhoghide read in part: “The sum of N3.7 billion was paid to web Fountain Ltd without deduction of Witholding tax.

“This action led to the loss of tax revenue of N378 million and possibly more companies not covered by the sampled test.”

The office of Accountant General however maintained that statutorily, by laws governing the Term of Agreement of their contract, Webb Fontaine Ltd has been exempted from and not subject to the payment of Taxes (WHT, VAT).

The Senate dismissed the defense and subsequently directed the Accountant General of the Federation to ensure that all officials who signed the agreement with Webb Fontaine should be identified and sanctioned for causing loss of Revenue . The Red Chamber also mandated the Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, to hand over the officials to the anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, ( EFCC) for prosecution.

The Senate also said, ” The Accountant General should recover the sum of N378 million from Webb Fountain Ltd and remit to FIRS.

“Recovery particulars should be forwarded to the Auditor General of the Federation for audit.”

(Text, excluding headline, courtesy Nigerian Tribune)