Reps grill Shell, Total over alleged tax evasion

The House of Representatives, on Wednesday, grilled Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, Total Energies, and First E and P over alleged tax evasion.

The companies appeared before the ad hoc committee investigating the Structure and Accountability of the Joint Venture (JV) Business and Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) of the NNPC from 1990 to date.

The chairman of the committee, Abubakar Fulata, frowned at their operations regarding the payment of taxes to the Federal Inland Revenue Service, saying the FIRS does not rely on Stock Certificate of Crude Oil as well as Certificate of Acceptance of fixed Assets (CAFA).

Fulata stated that the Stock Certificate gave clearer pictures of the oil being lifted while the CAFA certificate was the basis for capital allowances claims.

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The leader of the Shell delegation, Bashir Bello, said SPDC had been in operation since 1929 and promised to furnish the committee with the relevant documents being requested with exception of CAFA certificate.

The committee said Shell, Total, and First E and P were in violation of Nigerian law for making capital allowances claims without the CAFA certificate.

The companies, in their separate submissions and presentations, said they had been in operation and relying on Petroleum Tax Act to make capital allowance claims.

They claimed that the CAFA was domiciled with the Ministry of Industry.

The committee argued said it was not only the PT Act they were bound to obey, adding that they have no power to select which law to obey and which one not to obey.

The panel demanded that the oil companies, among other things, furnished the committee with stock certificate, capital allowances enjoyed, and the contributions to NNPC-JV and PSCs Account.

The Star