Benue State Internal Revenue Service (BIRS) has fingered politicians, traditional rulers and local government officials in the state over collection of illegal taxes in the state. It also said that no fewer than 76 persons had so far been arrested by the board in connection with the setting up of illegal road blocks in the state.
Terzungwe Atser, the BIRS chairman, who disclosed this during a press conference in Makurdi on Monday, also said the agency had been netting an average of N600 million monthly. He decried the activities of illegal tax operators, which he said, had been hindering the smooth running of business in the state. Atser observed that four major betting companies had left the state as a result of the activities of the illegal operators, while more organizations, among them Nigeria Brewery Limited (NBL), brewers of ‘MORE Lager Beer’ might pack up over illegal taxation. He fingered politicians, traditional rulers and local government officials, who he said, were in the racket of collecting illegal taxes, adding that the board was currently investigating the alleged involvement of such persons and would soon make public their names. The BIRS boss further observed that the high profile persons involved in the collection of illegal taxes had been a clog in the wheel by intervening whenever their boys were arrested.

Source: Independent

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