By Kayode Tokede
The MTN Group has announced the appointment of Troopti Desai as the Group Executive, Tax.
This was disclosed via a statement issued by the Group, as her appointment as a group executive would be effective on September 13, 2021.
The Group stated, “Troopti was an attorney and had extensive experience in the fields of labour law, immigration law, corporate tax, mergers and acquisitions tax, tax incentives, corporate governance, legal and finance, as well as tax policy and revenue authority engagement.
“She would join MTN from PriceWaterhouseCoopers, where she was a partner in the corporate tax department responsible for managing various forms of tax risk for multinationals and South Africa-listed clients across sub-Saharan Africa. Before moving to PwC, Troopti was the head of tax for SSA at General Electric. She was also a director of multiple GE entities in South Africa. She holds a bachelor of a law degree, a higher diploma in tax law, and an MBA from Wits University.”
The office of Nigeria’s Attorney General demanded that MTN should pay up the accrued sum of $2 billion it owed in back taxes. The demand came at a time when the company was still trying to finish up with another cash settlement imposed by the government over the company’s alleged fraudulent SIM registration practices.
Around the same time, the telco was ordered by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to bring back the sum of $8.1 billion which it remitted to its home country, South Africa, illegally.
On the tax demand, the Attorney-General said MTN’s $2 billion tax debt was uncovered when his office investigated companies’ tax compliance in Nigeria. According to him, taxes span over a ten-year period and are related to the importation of foreign equipment into the country as well as payments to the suppliers of the said equipment.
MTN maintained that the demand is uncalled for, claiming that it settled all its tax obligations. The company had even asserted “it is both regrettable and disconcerting” that it is facing these issues despite previous efforts made in the past to resolve them.