Finance minister reconstitutes tax appeal tribunal in eight zones

Finance minister reconstitutes tax appeal tribunal in eight zones
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy, has approved the reconstitution of the Tax Appeal Tribunal, with the reappointment of the current chairmen and commissioners.
This is contained in a statement issued by Yahaya Abubakar, the Coordinating Secretary, Tax Appeal Tribunal, on Monday in Abuja.
The tribunal is established in eight zones namely: Lagos, Abuja, South West (Ibadan), South South (Benin), South East (Enugu) and North Central (Jos) zones.
Others are North East (Bauchi) and North West ( Kaduna) zones, with a Coordinating Secretariat to coordinate, render support services and facilitate the operations of the respective zones.
The statement said the reappointment affected only the chairmen and commissioners who had not attained the statutory age of 70 years.
It said the Federal Inland Revenue Service (Establishment) Act 2007 empowers the minister to appoint the commissioners of the TAT in line with Paragraph 2 (1) of the Act
The Act states: “A Tribunal shall consist of five members (hereinafter referred to as ‘Tax Appeal Commissioners’) to be appointed by the Minister.”
The statement said that the minister also approved the reappointment and posting of TAT commissioners to the zones where they had served previously for the purpose of continuity.
It recalled that the first tenure of the immediate tax appeal commissioners expired in February.
It said Paragraph 4 of the 5th Schedule to the FIRS (Establishment) Act, 2007 states: “A Tax Appeal Commissioner shall hold office for a term of three years renewable for another term of three years only and no more, from the date on which he assumes his office or until he attains the age of 70 years whichever is earlier.’’
NAN reports that TAT, which replaced the defunct Body of Appeal Commissioners, and the VAT Tribunals was established in 2010.
It is expected to adjudicate disputes arising from the operations of all the tax laws and regulations as specified in the 1st Schedule to the FIRS (Establishment) Act 2007.