₦airaland Forum

i

i think dey deserved the fine

the situation is really serious here in ilorin and i am sure it is just here that this is happening

MTN has consistently prided itself as the foremost telephone company that is getting Nigerians talking the most. Now the South African company is about to set tongues wagging across networks with revelations that it has routinely been shipping billions of dollars overseas to avoid paying its fair share of tax in Nigeria. An 11-month-long joint investigation by PREMIUM TIMES, Finance Uncovered and amaBhugane reveals that MTN has been running circles around Nigerian revenue authorities using a complex but noxious tax avoidance scheme called Transfer Pricing. For any economy, it is a slow death. The red flag was raised the moment our investigations showed that MTN Nigeria has been making payments to two overseas companies – MTN Dubai and MTN International in Mauritius – both located in tax havens. It was discovered that in 2013 for example, MTN set aside N11.398 Billion from MTN Nigeria to pay to MTN Dubai. A similar transfer of N11.789 Billion was made by MTN Ghana to the same MTN Dubai, making it a total of N23.187 Billion that was shipped to the Dubai offshore account. In a rare disclosure in 2013, MTN admitted it made unauthorized payments of N37.6 Billion to MTN Dubai between 2010 and 2013. The transfers were then “on-paid” to Mauritius, a shell company with zero number of staff and which physical presence in the capital Port Louis is nothing more than a post office letter box.
The disclosure amounted to a confession given that MTN made the dodgy transfers without seeking approval from the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), the body mandated to oversight such transfers. On the basis of an earlier management fees agreement that was technically quashed by NOTAP and on the basis of MTN’s reported revenues, it is estimated that N90.2 Billion could have been transferred out of Nigeria in management fees alone since the company was founded in 2002.
Transfer Pricing For corporate organizations determined to escape the taxman but still cleverly staying on the right side of the law, Transfer Pricing is the new cellar door constructed by the most ingenious of accountants. It is a new global disease to which Third World economies are the most vulnerable. Multinationals employ Transfer Pricing to move their profits offshore, leaving behind a shrinking tax base in their host countries and inexorable cuts to public services. In Africa, tax avoidance has been named as one of the factors holding the continent back by starving governments of the revenues it needs for development. A report jointly commissioned by the United Nations and the African Union and drafted by a high level panel led by former South African president Thabo Mbeki considered tax avoidance by multinationals to be an “illicit financial flow” and a significant drain on government resources across the continent. In total illicit financial flows, which included corruption and the proceeds of crime, were determined to be costing the continent $50 Billion a year $50bn. Just last year, South Africa’s deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa had harsh words for tax dodgers. He said: “Tax evasion is not only a crime against the state; it’s also a crime against the people of our country, ordinary people.” Curiously, the same Cyril Rhamaposa was non-executive chairman of the board of MTN between 2001 and 2013 before he became South Africa’s No.2 man. In effect, the same tax practices which the deputy president strongly condemned in his country as financial crime is vigorously being promoted in Nigeria. MTN is the largest cell phone company in Africa with 227.5 million subscribers. The company, which operates in more than 20 countries across Africa and the Middle East, has Nigeria as its biggest operation. Until now, tax justice investigations had focused on computer giants, corporations in the extractive industry, food and beverages; in fact everywhere but the mobile phone sector despite the cell phone industry in Africa being one of the largest and most important industries for the continent. Mobile phone has been a cheap and quick way of rolling out the vital communications infrastructure that has underpinned Africa’s growth story over the last decade.

As a result the industry has seen explosive growth. With 685million mobile phone users in Africa, the success story means that cell phone companies are now the largest contributor to government revenues in many African countries. That is when they pay their fair share of taxes. Artificial operating costs To pay little or no tax, companies determined to cheat begin by seeking ways to create artificial operating costs in the country where
they operate. For example, a company is in Nigeria but has a parent or subsidiary company in another country. It makes huge profit but decides to declare a much lower profit-before-tax. To achieve this, it pays the parent and/ or subsidiary company for services not rendered and ships cash to them. Where services are rendered, the costs are inflated. Such services may include royalty for the use of brand name, procurement services, technical services and management services. Typically, the recipient company is located in an offshore territory under a different financial jurisdiction. MTN has a substantial network of subsidiaries in offshore tax havens, including the British Virgin Islands, Dubai and Mauritius. Because of the growing concerns that multinationals are using intra-company trading to shift profits around the world by overcharging for services delivered or in more extreme cases by creating artificial transactions where no services was rendered at all, respective countries have a maximum percentage of profits it can allow companies to pay out as management fees. For example, in Senegal, accounts from the company Sonatel show that the company has a ‘cooperation agreement’ with parent company France Telecom that is capped at 1.43% of revenue. Until 2010 MTN Nigeria had an agreement with MTN Dubai to pay 1.75% of revenues to the company for management, and royalties for the use of the MTN trademark. Nigeria requires that management fees paid by multinationals are approved by the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP). The fee payments had been reversed following a failure to come to a new agreement on management fees with Nigerian regulators. MTN’s previous agreement with NOTAP expired in 2010. Notwithstanding, MTN has continued to make payments overseas. When we sent questions to MTN over these unauthorized payments, the company told us that this was because they expected NOTAP to approve a new deal and backdate it to the date of the expiry of the previous deal. MTN’s financial activities are now being questioned by more than one tax authorizes in Africa. In Ghana the MTN subsidiary, Scancom, has been paying vast management fees to companies located offshore. Our investigations reveal that Scancom paid 758m
GHS in management and technical fees to MTN Dubai between 2008 and 2013. This was 9.64% of the company’s revenue. Normally the maximum fee level allowed in Ghana is 6%. We can reveal that the high levels of fees attracted the attention of Ghana’s intelligence services, which launched an investigation into “economic fraud” between 2012 and 2013. MTN’s management fees need approval from the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC). The Ghanaian “National Security Taskforce” has called for a “review of all technology transfer and management service agreements currently held by GIPC to remove sections which are inapplicable and wrongly provided for” and upgrading and training of state systems and staff. In response to this,

MTN in Ghana told us: “The technical and management services agreements between Scancom and Investcom were duly approved by the GIPC.” The current head of the GIPC is Mrs. Mawuena Trebarh, who between 2007 and 2012 was responsible for government relations at MTN Ghana. This reporting team asked Mrs Trebarh to comment on whether her previous role could be perceived a conflict of interest. She did not respond to our requests. In response to our enquiries MTN confirmed that the company paid 12 billion West African Francs in 2012 and 14 billion West African Francs in 2013 in management fees to MTN International. The figure for 2013 is equivalent to 5% of the revenue made by MTN in Cote d’Ivoire. Dubai paradox Dubai is one of the places MTN ships huge profits to. Meanwhile, MTN does not operate any mobile phones in Dubai, yet it has significant operations in the small city state. MTN told us that it employs around 115 people in Dubai who provides services to the MTN group such as group procurement, group
finance, legal services, human resources and other corporate functions. One tool that campaigners have said will be helpful is to look at company reporting on a country by country basis. If a company is making huge revenues in a country where it has few employees but there is a low tax rate, which would suggest that there may be some profit shifting taking place. In Uganda, a dispute between the Uganda Revenue Authority and MTN has revealed that the company is paying 3% of its turnover in management fees to MTN International. The fees have been challenged by the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) who issued MTN with a “notice of assessment” in 2011. This was for a number of tax issues between 2003 and 2009, but a large portion was to do with a dispute over management fees, most of which had been paid to Mauritius. Correspondence between the URA and MTN seen by us show that the URA questioned the legitimacy of these fees, and pointed out that MTNI, the company providing “management services” to MTN Uganda had not spent any money in the years they had looked into. The URA said this could only mean two things: that management services provided to MTN Uganda had either already been paid for by MTN Uganda (and so MTN was in effect charging twice for the same thing) or they were never provided at all. The Ugandan authority told the company: “We have repeatedly asked for evidence of specific work performed by MTN Group for MTN Uganda for each of the tax years 2003 to
2009. We have only been provided with very little information relating to 2009 and the latter years. This information is very far from justifying a payment of 3 per cent of MTN Uganda’s turnover as management fees.” NOTAP keeps mum Asked to confirm the amount of fees paid out to MTN Dubai and Mauritius based on the company’s reported revenue between 2002 and today,

MTN told PREMIUM TIMES:
“There is no disclosure obligation for this information in South Africa or Nigeria.” Asked to explain the possible justification for MTN Nigeria to pay fees for management and technical services to a company with no employees, MTN said: “It is the contracting party’s prerogative as to how it elects to discharge its contractual obligations.” Meaning is that MTN Mauritius can perform its task without a single staff member. PREMIUM TIMES made sustained efforts to get NOTAP and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to comment on the MTN practices in Nigeria.

The Director in charge of Technology Transfer and Agreement, Ephraim Okejiri, initially pleaded that he was in a meeting, and that the reporter should wait. But after over four hours of waiting, he sent a secretary to say he would not be able to give any information on MTN. Similarly at Nigeria’s tax agency, the Federal Inland Revenue Service, the Director of Public Communications, Emmanuel Obeta, who had earlier promised on three occasion to make information available on the matter suddenly had a change of mind.

He said relevant officials who should provide him with the information sought were all not available.

Source=http://www.premiumtimesng.com/investigationspecial-reports/192159-investigation-how-mtn-smuggles-billions-to-shell-companies-abroad-to-evade-tax-in-nigeria.html

Shiooor! A case of ole gbe ole gba!

Op u neeeed tha pix

Very sad there is too much injustice going in nigeria,and nobody is doing anything about it

i want in 07032090615

otr1:
Please, if any of your loved ones is a wailer, you need to stay closer to them for the time being...to avoid mass suicide.


...but if any wailer insists on ending the pain, after Amaechi has been confirmed by the Senate, just use this...

you just too kind!!! [quote author=otr1 post=38969963]

PRISTINEMUSCLES:
What about the wounds or sores that result ftom the friction rubbing of the two thighs?
What about the un-cordinated movement of those with huge thighs with no gap?
Do you also know the huge amount of sweat that is produced by those huge thighs (without gap) most especially when the ladies very tight-fitting clothes in hot weather?
I could go on and on, the point i am trying to bring out is the fact that the cons far outweigh the pros.

i am not talking about fat ladies,am talking about moderate thickness,too much of everyithing is bad you know!

Sir Mix-A-Lot likes 'em real thick and juicy,
and that's enough for me.
Here are 10 reasons why YOU should feel the
same way!

1. Skinny is out, strong as F*CK is in!

Check out Instagram—notice any recent
trends lately? You've probably noticed a ton
of your female friends posting photos of
themselves lifting, because that is the new
jam right now. Strong ass females are the
new supermodels, and if you already have some super sturdy legs then you're one step
ahead of everyone else!

2. Your sex game is ridiculous.

The best sex is had when you're physically
able to do whatever your heart desires.
Some trickier positions just aren't going to be
possible for women with tiny little tree trunk
legs and no muscle there...and too bad for
them—think about all the realms of sexual pleasure you're going to be able to unlock
that they cannot!

4. Thigh gaps are just...so ridiculously
hard to achieve if your body isn't built
that way. Why stress?

IT'S NOT WORTH IT!

5. Big thighs = big butts, and everyone
loves a big butt.

Nicki Minaj has been leading a big butt
revolution, and now is the perfect time to
flaunt the junk in your trunk. But all that junk
wouldn't be possible if you didn't have
something to support it on, and that's why
thick-thighed women rule the world.pix below

6. If you drop your phone while texting
on the toilet, your thighs will catch it!

Could you imagine the horror of an
expensive smartphone slipping through your
thigh gap? Count me OUT, please!

7. This is your cartoon doppleganger.

And I'm sorry...but she is WAY hotter than
any Q-tip skinny Disney princess.pix below!

8. Studies suggest that thick thighs are
good for the heart (scientifically, as well
as emotionally)!

The study suggests women with thighs too
thin to have enough muscle mass have
difficulty producing the proper amount of
insulin, and this can lead to thin-thighed
women having a higher risk of diabetes and
heart disease.

9. Thick thighs do a body good when the
wind is blowin'...why would you want
all that cold air down there? 10. You won't get tired from dancing at
the club, or sore the morning
after...your legs can last all night long!

11. OWN your body and you'll feel way
better than if you spend your whole life
trying to get someone else's!

TonyeBarcanista:
Is it only me that observed that the government of Buhari will always manufacture story to distract the public whenever there are issues against it? This story was to divert the attention of the public from the morally bankrupt men that Buhari nominated as ministers AND to distract us from the spate of Boko Haram bombing. This distraction tactic of Buhari and his agents is Dead on Arrival.

On topic, Buhari SHOULD prosecute whoever is wanting and stop disturbing us with 'probe' noise.

oponu with first class in oponuology

EgusiSoup:
Is this what the dullard APC Government having to offer? Senior citizen die and die everyday? Is this the CHANGE we requires?

How does we even cope with this dullard without the delinquent of cost?

just listen to yourself!

its simply amazing, but i think i will stick to my smartphone #iamnotachild i dont need a toy!

chukwudi44:
Burutai is busy posing with snakes and doing press-ups!! Buhari should resign asap!! What sort of incompetence is this? May the soul of the poor victims RIP amen!!

stop the Hate, it will do you no good

do you still have bold 5 and hw much is d price?

yes and why not

TESTED and TRUSTED= ROONEYBOY anyday,anytime(08036998597)

rooneyboy still remains the best
Contact him on=08036998597

djdoxxx:
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location pls?

When I die I will be offline on Facebook. I will be offline on 2go I will be offline on bbm I will be offline on whatsApp. I will be offline on viber I will be offline on tango I will be offline on Twitter. I will be offline on eskimi I will be offline on instagram. I will be offline on wechat. My number will be off, I will no longer comment on posts or even receive messages, or information from family and friends. My friends and family and even my enemies will cry but there will be no more me. But you know what will remain when I'm gone? The Quran I read will be online. My 5 daily prayers will be online. My Zakat will be online. My good deeds will be online. My Fasts will be online. All what I do in the cause of Allah will be online with me inside the grave Let all of us think about this! Eventually we are all going to die. Because every soul shall taste death. Why not prepare for that time that it will be only you? Why not stop being afraid of people? Why not stop betraying? Why not keeping promises anymore? Why not stop being afraid of what people will say? Why don't you take decisions that will benefit you on the day of judgement? Why don't you take decisions that will help you in the grave? Why not please Allah and have eternal happiness, fun and enjoyment? Remember!!! Every soul shall taste death. May Allah make it easy for us. Ameen Yaa Rabbi. please share to remind your brothers & sisters,lovers & enemies as I remind you now!!!!!!!

rooneyboy all the way,only that he deals with only MTN

how much?

is there a link or somthing? Or i do get the upgrade pls!

Motorists plying the Umaru Yar’Adua expressway leading to and from the city centre to the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja often experience incessant hardship whenever President Muhammadu Buhari travels out of or returns to the capital city. On every occasion that Mr. Buhari travels, the 10-lane expressway is often closed for prolonged periods before the President’s convoy eventually comes along.

During those periods, motorists trying to access the road or those already on it are made to halt their journeys. On Wednesday morning, as Mr. Buhari travelled to Cameroun on a state visit as part of regional efforts to combat the Boko Haram sect, the traffic situation caused by the presidential movement was terrible and heart wrenching for residents and motorists. A motorist who resides at the Federal Housing Estate in Lugbe, Oluyinka Akintunde, told PREMIUM TIMES that he
set out for work at some minutes after 8 a.m. but was forced to stop, alongside hundreds of other motorists, because the road was closed to traffic.

“The entire stretch of the road from the Federal Secretariat to the Airport, a distance of over 40 kilometres, was closed and we had to stop there until about 9:10 a.m. when the president’s convoy eventually passed,” he said. Mr. Oluyinka also recalled that his wife experienced the same scenario last week. “My wife was going to the Church very early last week, but she could not enter the expressway because it had already been closed,

” he said. Mr. Buhari had shortly after his election as President, and before he was sworn in, directed his aides to always respect traffic light. His convoy was seen obeying traffic light on occasions when he shuttled between the Defence House and his office in Wuse 2 and other destinations. Mr. Oluyinka said although it is normal practice for a president not to share the road with other road users, he blames the security agents who he said “
appear as if they take delight in blocking the road even when the president was clearly not ready to start moving”.
“I am not sure the President is aware we are suffering like this under this reign,
” he said. Another Abuja resident, Maikudi Shuaib, recently narrated to this reporter how he missed the Eid El- Fitr prayer some days back due to road closure by security agents.

“We were on the road quite ahead of time, but we saw some soldiers and police officers along the Bolingo Junction blocking the road. All our pleas to let us pass as we were heading to the Eid fell on deaf ears. “They said the road has been closed for presidential movement. I happily saw the President pass in a modest convoy, but I missed my prayer,”
he said. The current situation concerning Mr. Buhari’s movement appears to be business as usual in terms
of the traffic gridlock presidential convoys cause during departure to or arrival from a travel destination.

PREMIUM TIMES had earlier this year reported how trips by former President Goodluck Jonathan exposed Abuja residents to insecurity. In that report, which detailed Mr. Jonathan’s travel
out of Abuja for campaigns on a Saturday, over 200 police officers and about a hundred soldiers were withdrawn from their beats around the nation’s capital and made to line the route to the Abuja Airport four hours before the then President left his home at the Presidential villa.

Some of the police officers were seen standing with their rifles on their shoulders, some sitting on pavements, stones and bare ground while others snored away in patrol cars. This time around, although there is high security presence along the airport road whenever Mr. Buhari travels the withdrawal of security agents from the city centre does not appear to be as high as it was during President Jonathan’s reign.

Source=http://www.premiumtimesng.com/features-and-interviews/187441-how-buharis-airport-shuttles-foist-hardship-on-abuja-residents.html

Fred should just relocate to a room apartment or a room and parlour self contain,i think that ll automatically solve the problem

Emmy1000:
Just on it.

you mean you already have windows 10

Finally, the anticipated Windows 10 which Microsoft has advertised on Windows 7 and 8.1 for several months will be released July 29, 2015.

Windows 10 will be a free upgrade, assuming your computer runs Windows 7 Service Pack 1 or Windows 8.1. And as long as you upgrade to Windows 10 within the first year, you won’t have to pay a dime. You can continue using Windows 10 and getting updates for the “supported lifetime of the device.” It’s a full copy that will continue to work. However, If you have an older computer running Windows Vista or a previous version of Windows, you won’t get a free upgrade.

You may resolve to buying a new computer if you fall in this category of users anyway. If you have a pirated (“non-genuine“) copy of Windows, you may be able to upgrade — but you’ll continue to have a “non- genuine” copy of Windows 10.

How to Upgrade

Microsoft rolled out a “Get Windows 10″ application that prompts you to “reserve” your copy of Windows 10, and you’ll be seeing those notifications in your system tray on Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1 computers. While the upgrade process shouldn’t erase your personal files, it’s always important to have backups. If you have hardware or programs that won’t be compatible with Windows 10, the upgrade application will inform you of any possible problems you might experience.

What’s New?

Microsoft wants Windows 10 to be a worthy upgrade to both Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users. It builds on Windows 8’s base, offering its desktop improvements and security features.

Here are few highlights:

1. One OS To Rule Them All

Microsoft wants to get all recent Windows machines
on the same operating system, providing a standardized Windows platform and pushing the “universal apps” offered by the Windows Store.

“Windows 10 will run on the broadest amount of devices. A tailored experience for each device,” said Terry Myerson, Microsoft Executive VP of Operating Systems. “There will be one way to write a universal application, one store, one way for apps to be discovered, purchased and updated across all of these devices.”

2. The Start Menu returns

Microsoft has finally decided to bring back the Start Menu. It will combine both aspects of the classic Windows 7 start menu with apps from the Metro/ Modern UI of Windows 8. Essentially its layout can be customised so apps can be removed or resized. Searching within the Start Menu will now perform a web search as well.

3. Edge Browser

With Windows 10, Microsoft is introducing a new browser called Edge, which is aimed squarely at consumers. The focus is on speed and ease of use, getting rid of functions like ActiveX controls and basically making the internet a less stressful place to be. Edge includes a number of nice features like a button that allows you to convert any web page into an easy-to-read format, removing adverts and sidebars and allowing you to focus on the core content such as text and pictures. Users can also customise the colour of the background and the size
of the font to improve the reading experience. Windows 10 will still come with Internet Explorer pre-installed, for people who want access to a richer set of web tools. However, Edge will become the default browser on Windows 10.

4. Apps

Microsoft is also pushing the Windows Store for desktop users in Windows 10, as those fancy new “universal apps” now run in desktop windows and could actually be a bit useful. With Windows 10, clicking on one of the live tiles in the start menu does not take you into the mobile interface. Rather, it launches the application within the desktop environment, in a window that can be resized, maximised, minimised and closed, just like any other Windows program.

5. Desktop Notifications

Tech users have become fairly used to having notifications popping up on their smartphones and tablets, but Windows 10 also brings them to the desktop. If you are using a keyboard and mouse, an icon will appear on the taskbar to alert you to messages and events you haven’t seen. Clicking on the icon will bring up a notification centre with more information, as well as shortcuts to the relevant apps. Users can also turn WiFi on or off from within the notification centre, or adjust ‘quiet hours’ and battery saver. If you’re using
a touch interface, you can just swipe from the side to bring up the notification centre.

6. Security

Windows 10 includes a range a new security features, including support for biometrics. A new feature called Windows Hello allows you to unlock your desktop either by looking at the screen or using your fingerprint. The facial recognition feature requires an infrared camera. The camera scans your face in 3D and compares it with data stored on the computer to determine whether or not you are the validated user.

Source>http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/187400-what-you-need-to-know-about-windows-10.html

chiedu7:
[size=13pt]STRANGE TURN OF EVIDENTS FROM APC.

AND THE LIST GROWS.

WELL APC & DULLARD KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING.

NOW BEGGARS THREATEN THE GOVERNMENT OF KADUNA STATE.

DULLARD IS THE 1ST PRESIDENT TO TAKE HIS CHILD ON A GOVERNMENT FUNDED OFFICIAL TRIP.
AND THE TRIP WAS PAID FOR BY THE TAX OF THE NIGERIAN MASSES.

₦AIRA HAS FALLEN THREE TIMES SINCE DULLARD & APC GOT IN.

DULLARD HAS CUT OFF THE SOUTH-WEST THAT GAVE HIM THE PRESIDENCY.

GIVES ONLY THE NORTH NICE APPOINTMENTS, WHILE IGNORING THE REST OF THE COUNTRY

MAKE'S SURE ONLY THE NORTH GETS SENATE PRESIDENT & SPEAKER OF REPS.

GRACIOUSLY GIVES THE EAST OF NIGERIA BOKO HARAM PRISONERS

WONDERFUL GIVES THE SOUTH-SOUTH NUCLEAR REACTORS THAT OTHERS KNOW IS A DEATH TRAP.

BOKO HARAM HAS INCREASED IT'S KILLING, EVEN BURNING THE HOUSE OF TOP MILITARY MAN.

BOKO HARAM IS NOW SENDING CHILDREN TO BOMB FOR THEM.

DULLARD DOES NOT WANT TO SUPPORT THE NIGER DELTA GUYS WHO REFUSED VIOLENCE TO GO TO SCHOOL!
WHO SAID DULLARD & APC ARE NOT WORKING[/size] [size=36pt] ?[/size]

https://i.imgur.com/wh1z7Nv.gif?1

you seriously need to get a job!