Njaka Silas
‘We don’t have any personal issue with government except that Ebonyi State Board of Internal Revenue took about 18 companies to court over allegations of `Payee’ that they did not file’
By Nweze Anaga, Abakaliki
The Petroleum Dealers Association of Nigeria, Ebonyi State chaptre, has shutdown businesses as a result of the ongoing court case to resolve the issue of “Payee” between the association and the Ebonyi State Board of Internal Revenue.
Addressing newsmen after the court sitting in Abakaliki on Monday May 8, 2023,, the Chairman of the Petroleum Dealers Association of Nigeria, Ebonyi State branch, Mr. Njaka Silas, alleged that the Board of Internal Revenue in the state took about 18 companies to court over payee issues, stressing that monthly emolliment of their staff must be compiled and forwarded to the board.
Silas said that the petroleum dealers association objected the idea, insisting that it was abnormal to do so since their workforce was unstable, irregular and not permanent because they could easily abandon the job and move eswhere anytime they want.
Silas further explained that the issue of `Payee’ was not obtainable in other sister-states in South East like Enugu, Imo, Anambra and Abia, asking why Ebonyi should be different from other states.
“Well, the State Board of Internal Revenue took some of our members to court on the issue of `Payee’ – ie we did not do filling for some years, now.
“As we have case in court, our offices can’t be open; we do close our offices as we go. And as we are going back, our offices will be open again.
“We don’t have any personal issue with government except that Ebonyi State Board of Internal Revenue took about 18 companies to court over allegations of `Payee’ that they did not file payee for previous years.
“What they meant by filling payee is that the names of our workers should be submitted since we pay our workers monthly, at the end of the year, we compile monthly emolliment and forward to them. But the new law says, if somebody doesn’t earn up to thirty thousand, a certain number of staff, should not do it which is not applicable to us.
“We have made enquiries from Anambra, Enugu, Abia, Imo and the are not doing it. So many other states in the country are not doing it, why is our own seeming to be different.
“Depot community has ordered that all filling stations in Ebonyi, any day we are going to court, has to remain closed in solidarity.”
valoa2000@yahoo.com
