The Kano State Internal Revenue Service (KIRS) has sealed the head office of Max Air Limited, a prominent Nigerian airline, along with two other companies in Kano, over unpaid tax liabilities spanning several years.
According to Ibrahim Abdullahi, Director of Debt Management and Enforcement at KIRS, the closures were carried out after the companies repeatedly failed to comply with notifications to settle their outstanding tax debts.
Max Air was shut down for allegedly failing to settle taxes owed between 2012 and 2017. The head office of Dantata and Sawoe Construction Company was also sealed for allegedly refusing to pay N241.2 million in Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) and withholding taxes for 2021 and 2022.
Similarly, the Northern Rice and Oil Milling Nigeria Ltd at Gunduwawa Industrial Estate was closed due to a N600,000 tax liability. Abdullahi stated that the agency deemed it necessary to take this step to compel compliance after several correspondences failed to yield positive responses from the affected parties.
The sealed companies will remain closed until they settle their outstanding debts. Abdullahi added that similar enforcement exercises would continue to remind tax defaulters of their obligations.
