MTN Nigeria is in fresh trouble with the Nigerian government accusing it of withholding $2 billion in taxes.
The Nigerian government has, therefore, slammed South African company with a $2 billion tax demand, just days after the Central Bank of Nigeria ordered it to repatriate $8.13 billion it alleged moved of Nigeria illegally.
This is not the first time the telecoms company will be under the government’s hammer. The company was in 2015 fined $5.2 billion by Nigeria’s telecoms regulator for failing to disconnect unregistered SIM cards on its network. The fine was later reduced to $1.7 billion after a series of negotiations with the Nigerian government.
MTN, giving a statement to the capital market on Tuesday, confirmed that Nigeria’s attorney general has given it a “notice of an intention to recover the $2 billion (1.73 billion euros) from MTN Nigeria.”
It said though that it “believes it has fully settled all amounts owing under the taxes in question, based on the detailed review performed.”
Nigeria’s central bank last Wednesday ordered the South African company the refund $8.13 billion and fined four banks involved in the transfer to the tune of N5.87 billion.
The telecommunication company and the four banks are engaging the CBN to resolve the issues.
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