Anambra Branches Of GTB, Unity Trust Bank Sealed Off For Owing The State Over N103bn In Tax Debt
Anambra State Government on Friday sealed branches of Unity Bank and Guarantee Trust Bank, GTB, across the state over an alleged debt owed the state in arrears.
The exercise was carried out by an enforcement team from Anambra State Internal Revenue Service, AIRS, with support from security agencies in parts of Onitsha, Awka and Nnewi.
Also sealed off during the exercise were privately owned business premises, companies and offices.
Speaking after the enforcement activity, the Chairman of the State Internal Revenue Service, Dr David Nzekwu said the AIRS as a responsible organization sealed off the businesses in line with court orders it secured.
He explained that the sealing of GTB was based on a judgement they obtained with respect to remittance of stamp duties that the bank collected from individuals in Anambra State which were not remitted to the state government. In the case of Unity Bank, Nzekwu revealed that it was sealed off with respect to Pay As You Earn, PAYE remittances which were outstanding from 2015 to 2016.
The Anambra Tax boss said in the case of the GTB, they were not allowed access to the books on stamp duties paid to enable them to conduct audits as required.
“We then applied Best of Judgement, BoJ assessment, by extrapolating figures that are out there in the media to estimate N102.9 billion to be the outstanding stamp duties payment that would have been paid to the state,” he said.
