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The Oyo state government on Tuesday sealed the business premises of Obasanjo Farms, located in Oluyole Industrial Estate, Ibadan, for defaulting in the payment of environmental development levy.
Several other business premises were also shut for defaulting in the payment of the levy for the year 2017 and 2018. The affected firms, located in areas such as Dugbe, Eleyele, Podo, Challenge, Onireke areas of the city, include Black Horse, Heinemann Educational Books, Lister Flour Mills, and University Press Limited. Others are Evans Brother, Brooking House, Group Medical hospital, Butterfield bakery, Chicken Republic, MRS oil and Rasmed publicity.
The exercise, carried out by the combined task force teams of the Oyo State Inter-ministerial Enforcement Unit, is being coordinated by the Oyo State Board of Internal Revenue which is currently on an aggressive tax drive.
On Monday, over a dozen bank branches in the city were sealed for the same offence.
While addressing the press, the chairman, Oyo state Board of Internal Revenue (OYBIR), Mr. Bicci Alli said the exercise became inevitable due to the failure of the affected firms to comply with the state tax laws after series of formal communication failed.
Stressing that the enforcement will be continuous, he warned all corporate organizations in the state to do the needful and be corporately responsible in line with the laws of the land.
“What they are guilty of is the payment of the environmental development levy” he explained. “Some of them owe about two years. We wrote to them and gave them notices to pay, they refused to pay. It was as a result of their failure to pay that we now embarked on the needful.
“But it’s so sad that not until we have to take this step against the firms that they are now actually coming out to pay.
“Government is not interested in disrupting the business of these corporate organizations, the business of government is to create an enabling environment for business to thrive which Oyo state government has done tremendously well in the last few years and that’s why you see businesses springing up on daily basis in Oyo state. The government cannot disrupt their businesses unless where it is absolutely necessary.
“The focus now is that we will collect every kobo that people are owing the state government, we did publication on August 13, in two widely read newspapers, drawing the attention of corporate organizations and individual residents of Oyo state to pay all their taxes, dues and levies that are supposed to pay to the state government within 14 days.
“But that was like a reminder, prior to that: we served demand notices in line with extant laws on corporate organizations, individuals to pay their taxes. Some of the taxes are due early January, February, March, depending on the position of the law. However, when they failed to pay, we did the reminder in line with the position of the law and we now did a public notice on 14th August, giving them 14 days to be able to pay. So, nobody could tell us that they were not informed.”