MultiChoice Group, owner of satellite television services DStv and GOtv, has agreed to pay N35.4 billion as part of its tax obligations to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
This was disclosed in a statement addressed to shareholders on Thursday, 8 February 2024.
The FIRS, in 2021, issued notices of assessment and demand notices in the sum of N1.82 trillion as tax bills.
Reacting to this, MultiChoice disputed the assessments and approached the Tax Appeal Tribunal (TAT).
This resulted to a series of cases at both TAT and the federal high court.
On August 25, 2021, Multichoice further instituted a court action where it challenged the assessment of FIRS over unpaid value-added tax (VAT) which amounted to $342 million.
Following the court cases both parties have decided to amicably resolve the disputes.
“Shareholders are advised that MultiChoice has reached a settlement with the FIRS in Nigeria in relation to the tax assessments raised in April 2021 on MultiChoice Nigeria (MCN) and in June 2021 on MultiChoice Africa Holdings BV (MAH),” the company said in the statement.
“The parties (FIRS, MCN and MAH) concluded a ‘without prejudice or precedent’ agreement in full and final settlement of all matters in dispute. In terms of the agreement, MCN and MAH shall pay a total tax amount of NGN35.4billion to be offset against the security deposits and good faith payments made to date.”
