The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has urged taxpayers in Rivers State not to panic but to continue to comply with their Value Added Tax (VAT) obligations “within the status quo framework,” until the Court of Appeal, or even the Supreme Court, determines the matter in contention.
A recent court ruling by the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt had dismissed FIRS’s motion for stay of execution of the judgment that Rivers State can collect VAT from its residents.
The FIRS made the appeal in a statement by the Special Assistant to the chairman of the FIRS on Media and Communications, Johannes Wojuola.
The statement reads: “The FIRS having lodged, in the Court of Appeal, both an appeal against the decision of the Federal High Court sitting in Rivers State in Suit No. FHC/PH/CS/149/2020, Attorney-General of Rivers State Vs Federal Inland Revenue Service, and an injunction pending appeal of the said judgement, assures taxpayers that there is no cause for alarm.
“The Federal High Court ruling should not breed any confusion as to the obligations of taxpayers. Taxpayers must continue to comply with the Value Added Tax Act pending the final determination of appeal.
“Taxpayers must continue to honour their tax obligations under the VAT Act. Failure to do this would put them on collision course with the law.”
It stressed that records of appeal have been transmitted to the appellate court, and that “the Service is confident that, given the extant laws, the arguments and case put forward, it will earn a favoured judgment at the appellate court.”