Bwari residents decry harassment by tax consultants

Some residents of Bwari have decried harassment from tax consultants allegedly engaged by the Bwari Area Council.

Business owners whose premises are located in the council told City News that they have been receiving demand notices from the tax consultants.

Uche Nwokoro, Conoil manager in Bwari, said he has received demand notice from a tax consultant to pay for operational permit.

He explained that since petrol stations pay the operational permit tax to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), he did not agree to pay same to the consultant.

He added that Conoil will not pay taxes into any private account except the Bwari council accounts.

Some traders at Kubwa who preferred to remain anonymous said all manner of rates and levies that were not permitted by relevant laws such as operational license permit fee, trade license permit fees and others have been introduced in the council.

In November 2015, the House of Representatives Committee on FCT Area Councils and Ancillary Matters gave a directive to the six area councils in the FCT to stop the use of consultants, agents, private taskforce and contractors for revenue collection and related issues as it rendered the council revenue staff redundant and unproductive.

The Chief Press Secretary to Bwari Area Council Chairman, Daniel Yisa, however said the activities of consultants engaged to generate revenue was backed by the council’s bye laws.

He said the consultants are supervised by revenue officers to ensure that their activities were within the confines of the law.

He said the council’s revenue section has only one designated account which people are expected to pay into but dissociated from consultants that asked residents to pay into private accounts saying “they are not from the area council.”