MTN TELECOM GIANT FACES FRESH $2BILLION TAX DEMAND

“In this process, his (the Attorney-General’s) office made a high-level calculation that MTN Nigeria should have paid approximately $2.0 billion in taxes relating to the importation of foreign equipment and payments to foreign suppliers over the last 10 years,” MTN said.

Penpushing reports that ,the company added, however, that its total payment of around $700 million over the 10-year period fully settled the amount owed under the taxes in question,just as Reuters reports Tuesday that shares in the telecom firm dropped 5.6 per cent to 81.95 rand as at noon, bringing losses since last week to nearly 25 per cent.

Penpushing further reports that the report last Thursday, noted that the telecom firm was issued $8.1 billion demand over concerns around repatriation of funds, while the latest demands come two years after Africa’s biggest telecoms company agreed to pay more than $1 billion to end a dispute with Nigeria over unregistered SIM cards.

The organization in its reaction, described the latest demands by Nigerian authorities as “regrettable and disconcerting”, adding that it will “continue to engage with the relevant authorities on all these matters, and we remain resolute that MTN Nigeria has not committed any offences and will vigorously defend its position.”