The Council was of the firm view that if the Tax Practice
Direction, which compels companies to pay 50% of assessed tax to FIRS before
any appeal to contest the assessment is allowed to proceed, most businesses in
the private sector will practically collapse.
According to the statement sent from the Secretariat saying
the resolution and call became necessary because feelers from the organised private
sector indicate that many businesses have been struggling to survive an
unfriendly business environment which has been made even more difficult due to
the COVID-19 pandemic.
Council was convinced that MSMEs which are currently the
bedrock of the economy and provide most of the employment will certainly be
most hard hit and will not and cannot survive the implementation of Practice
Direction, some of which provisions requires enforcement and forfeiture of
immovable property, freezing of a taxpayer’s bank account and sealing of their
premises. With such action, many of them will go under and collapse under the
weight of these provisions of the FIRS Practice Direction.
The Council, therefore, called for immediate suspension of
its implementation to enable a robust stakeholders engagement with the relevant
authorities for a revision of the TAX PRACTICE DIRECTION and other onerous tax
matters.