As of today, MultiChoice, the Pan-African broadcaster, will embark on settling a three-year-long tax dispute with the Nigerian Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS).
During the second half of 2021, the Nigerian tax authorities laid a ₦1.8 trillion ($4.4 billion) tax fraud accusation against the broadcasting giant, ordering the seizure of the company’s bank accounts.
MultiChoice denies these allegations by the Nigerian Tax authorities on several counts, although the company has already made some payments regarding this issue.
Earlier on, an agreement was drafted which required MultiChoice, Nigeria, and MultiChoice Africa to pay the sum of ₦35.4 billion (approx. $37.3 million) in taxes.
According to MultiChoice, in a statement to their investors, the company has paid a total of $56 million to settle this issue.
Yet, in August 2021, the company filed an appeal with the Tax Appeal Tribunal against the ₦1.8 trillion tax bill imposed on them.
It was agreed upon by the Tribunal that the company should pay half of the claim while MultiChoice made a $19 million deposit on payments.
Ultimately, a resolution of the pending tax issues was reached between the broadcasting company MultiChoice and the FIRS in March 2022.
The Broadcasting Company withdrew all lawsuits against the FIRS while the tax authorities are to conduct a deep audit of the MultiChoice accounts to determine the actual tax liability of the company.