The House of Representatives told Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) to pay Value Added Tax (VAT) on the money it earned from Remita between 2015 and 2022. This money should go to the Federal Government’s recovery account.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that Rep. Bamidele Salam, who leads the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), gave this order on Thursday. The committee is looking into money leaks through the REMITA platform.
The committee told GTB to pay the VAT after checking records and talking to the bank’s management.
They are worried because the VAT was not paid in the early days of Remita transactions. They are also looking into other issues like not following proper procedures.
GTBank’s Response
Earlier, Mr. Ahmed Liman, a top GTB boss, said the bank didn’t pay the VAT for eight years. The bank thought Remita had already taken out the VAT before giving them their commission.
“We thought Remita handled the VAT before splitting the money,” he said.
Mr. Liman explained that the bank charged 0.75% for all payments made through Remita. In 2018, the bank got N254.4 million (N254,489,013) from the Accountant General through Remita.
- Other banks like Keystone, Zenith Bank, Sterling Bank, Polaris Bank, FCMB, Ecobank, and Wema also came to the committee about the same issue.
- The committee sent these banks to a sub-committee to fix any differences in their reports.
- They will come back with the fixed reports on another date.
What You Should Know
Remita, made by SystemSpecs, is a tool the Federal Government uses to collect money for Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) into the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
With Remita, you can pay all taxes like Pay as You Earn (PAYE), VAT, and Withholding tax to the right tax authorities. It also lets you pay pension contributions and send lists to Pension Fund Administrators and Custodians.
Besides government payments, people and businesses use Remita for many types of payments.
