The Coordinating Director (Domestic Taxes Group) at the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Babatunde Ajayi has revealed that some companies involved in the crude oil exchange agreement with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), have no tax returns with the agency.
The companies, include Duke Oil and Trafigura, with Trafigura lifting about 12 million metric tons, in the swap programme and Duke Oil Global Investment refused to furnish it with requested tax inquiries.
According to the representative of Trafigura, Mr. James Juslin, the company has no tax obligations to Nigeria being an international company.
Ajayi reacted to his claim saying any company operating in the country and engaging in transactions must pay relevant taxes, irrespective of where it was registered. Following these revelations, the Hon. Zakari Mohammed led ad hoc committee asked for verification of names and location of all companies in the name of Duke oil.
The committee also mandated the FIRS to set to work by interacting with all the affected companies with a view of ensuring that all the taxes were recovered from them.