FIRS, MultiChoice Nigeria agree to resolve tax dispute

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and leading pay television service provider, MultiChoice Nigeria, have agreed to an amicable resolution of their pending tax disputes which led to a series of lawsuits.

Both parties announced the agreement in a joint press release issued on Wednesday in Abuja.

By the broad terms of the agreement, MultiChoice shall withdraw all pending lawsuits towards an amicable resolution of the dispute. Also, as part of the agreement, the FIRS commenced a Forensic Systems Audit of MultiChoice accounts on Tuesday, 8 March 2022 to determine the tax liability of the Company.

In April last year (2021), the FIRS issued Notices of Assessment and Demand Notices in the sum of N1.82 trillion on the Company.

MultiChoice, which disputed the assessments, approached the Tax Appeal Tribunal (TAT). This development led to series of cases at both the TAT and the Federal High Court.

With the agreement and the resumption of the Forensic Systems Audit, it is expected that the dispute will be resolved very soon.