Oyo Govt hammers Obasanjo Farms, University Press, MRS, 10 others for tax evasion

Abiola Kolawole, Ibadan

Oyo state government on Tuesday shut down the business
premises of Obasanjo Farms, located at Oluyole Industrial Estate, Ibadan and MRS
oil in the Oyo state capital city as part of its continued exercise to get
companies and corporate organisations pay their tax.

Obasanjo farm is one of the sixteen other business
organizations that were shut for defaulting in the payment of the environmental
development levy due to the state government.

The companies are said to have defaulted in the payment
for the year 2017 and or 2018.

The exercise which began yesterday was carried out by the
combined task force teams of the Oyo State Inter-ministerial Enforcement Unit and
coordinated by the Oyo State Board of Internal Revenue which saw branches of some banks sealed.https://www.osundaily.com/2018/09/tax-defauting-banks-sealed-in-ibadan-as.html

Locations visited by the task force team included Dugbe,
Eleyele, Podo, Challenge and Onireke areas of the state capital.

Some of the other firms affected in the seal up by the
task force team include Black Horse, Heinemann Educational Books, Lister Flour
Mills, and University Press Limited.

Others are Evans Brother, Brooking House, Group Medical
hospital at Mokola, Butterfield bakery, Chicken Republic, MRS oil and Rasmed
publicity.

While addressing the press, the chairman, Oyo state Board
of Internal Revenue (OYBIR), Mr. Bicci Alli said the exercise became inevitable
due to the failure of the affected firms to comply with the state tax laws
after series of formal communication failed.

Mr Alli stressed that the enforcement will be continuous,
he warned all corporate organizations in the state to do the needful and be corporately
responsible in line with the laws of the land.

He said “the exercise we carried out today (Tuesday) is
not something new and not outside the law. It is within the law. We went to
restrain some corporate organizations that failed to pay what is due to Oyo
state government after giving due notices, demand notices and even public
notices to that effect and they failed to pay.

“So we went to those places to restrain them from having
access to their premises and it’s going to be a continuous exercise, all
through the week and even next week.

“What they are guilty of is the payment of the
environmental development levy. Some of them owe about two years. We wrote to
them and gave them notices to pay, they refused to pay. It was as a result of
their failure to pay that we now embarked on the needful.

“But it’s so sad that not until we have to take this step
against the firms that they are now actually coming out to pay.

“Government is not interested in disrupting the business
of these corporate organizations, the business of government is to create an
enabling environment for business to thrive which Oyo state government has done
tremendously well in the last few years and that’s why you see businesses
springing up on daily basis in Oyo state. The government cannot disrupt
their businesses unless where it is absolutely necessary.

“The focus now is that we will collect every kobo that
people are owing the state government, we did publication on August 13, in two
widely read newspapers, drawing the attention of corporate organizations and
individual residents of Oyo state to pay all their taxes, dues and levies that
are supposed to pay to the state government within 14 days.

“But that was like a reminder, prior to that: we served
demand notices in line with extant laws on corporate organizations, individuals
to pay their taxes. Some of the taxes are due early January, February, March,
depending on the position of the law. However, when they failed to pay, we did
the reminder in line with the position of the law and we now did a public
notice on 14th August, giving them 14 days to be able to pay. So, nobody could
tell us that they were not informed.”

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