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British Airways ‘admits’ to tax evasion in Nigeria – may face legal action
He further faulted Mr Olayinka’s argument that not only BA was evading payments.
“That others are not paying doesn’t make it right. The problem is that the NCAA continues to treat this matter as civil. Refusal to pay revenue to government is a criminal matter and we must treat it as such. We will invite the relevant department to investigate the matter for possible prosecution,” he said.
Enjoys relief
The committee chairman maintained that British Airways action was unfair given the fact that the airline enjoys tax relief due to the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) between Nigeria and Britain.
He argued that since British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and other foreign airlines operating in Nigeria cannot dream of evading tax in their own countries, they must not only pay those taxes in Nigeria, they should be prosecuted.
Other members of the Senate Committee told British Airways that PFS is revenue accruing to foreign airlines and that since it usually appeared in account books as a major revenue source, it is taxable.
The Senators insisted that the refusal to pay the PFS amounted to felony, tax evasion and financial crime.
The tax evasion charge appears to be the latest in the air commerce war between Nigeria and Britain.
