25th March, 2024
Nigeria’s tax agency, the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS has filed criminal charges bordering on tax evasion and other crimes against Binance, a leading cryptocurrency exchange platform at a court in the capital territory.
In the suit, FIRS accused Binance o non-payment of Value Added Tax (VAT); failure to file tax returns; non-payment of Company Income Tax (CIT) evasion and “aiding customer tax evasion”.
The FIRS also accused Binance of making its platform available to facilitate tax evasion.
The FIRS in a statement on Monday said aside the issue of registration, Binance failed to adhere to existing Nigerian tax regulations.
According to the FIRS: “The Federal Government also accused Binance of failure to register with FIRS for tax purposes and contravening existing tax regulations within the country.
“One of the counts in the lawsuit pertains to Binance’s alleged failure to collect and remit various categories of taxes to the federation as stipulated by Section 40 of the FIRS Establishment Act 2007 as amended.
“Section 40 of the Act explicitly addresses the non-deduction and non-remittance of taxes, prescribing penalties and potential imprisonment for defaulting entities”.
FIRS accused Binance of neglecting to register with it for tax purposes as required by law.
It also alleged that Binance’s operations violated established tax regulations in Nigeria.
The FIRS provided details to support its claims. with Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, senior Binance executives in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) named as the second and third defendants.
The FIRS also said it is committed to enforcing tax regulations and tackling financial misconduct within the cryptocurrency sector.
The suit was filed amidst report of the escape of one of the detained executive of Binance from detention in Nigeria.