By Dele Ogbodo
Further to its earlier refutal on the transfer of $8.1 billion dividend as alleged by CBN, MTN,
yesterday maintained its stance on the Certificates of Capital Importations (CCIs) position, even as rejects the Attorney General’s investigation on Certificates of Capital Importations (CCIs).
The company averred that amount being peddled that owed under the tax in question has been fully settled.
The clarification was contained in a statement signed by MTNs PR Manager, Mr. Funsho Aina, in an update on the CCIs, following receipt it received from CBN on the foreign exchange repatriation.
The statement read: “The company has also notified the market, and all stakeholders that it has received a notice from the Attorney General of Nigeria that he intends to recover up to $2 billion of tax relating to import duties, VAT and withholding taxes on foreign imports.
According to PR Manager, MTN continues to deny the allegations being made by the CBN, adding that it has provided enough further clarity on the company’s position.
MTN equally strenuously rejects the findings of the Attorney General’s investigation and therefore believes it has fully settled all amounts owing under the taxes in question, he added.
The statement read: “It is both regrettable and disconcerting that despite the historic engagements with the Nigerian authorities by MTN Nigeria, the senate investigation into the CCI matter, and the multiple tax assessments done by the Nigerian tax authorities over many years that were satisfactorily concluded, that these matters are being reopened.
“Speaking on the allegations MTN Corporate Relations Executive Tobe Okigbo said: “From the CBN’s own letter and subsequent statements, it is clear that there is no dispute that the capital captured in MTN’s books and for which CCIs were issued was imported into Nigeria, and this is acknowledged explicitly by the CBN.
He went on to say: “All dividend repatriation done by MTN Nigeria to its shareholders was done on the basis of its equity capital and all the historic dividends were declared against valid equity CCIs and in fact no preference dividends were declared and no interest in respect of these preference shares was paid.
“This means that it is incorrect to suggest that the conversion of a shareholder loan to preference shares has any relation to the repatriation of dividends. The two are simply not connected and we are trying to understand this position that the Central Bank has taken.” he added.
According to Aina, the Attorney General’s ‘demand notice’ for historical tax obligations, Mr Okigbo said: “MTN has conducted a detailed review of these claims, and provided evidence of tax remittance to the Attorney General’s office. The Attorney General’s notice indicates that he is rejecting this evidence. We believe that all taxes due to the Nigerian government have been paid and these allegations have not been raised by any of the revenue generating agencies that MTN engages with regularly, and from whom MTN has received numerous awards for compliance.”
On the update on CBN’s letter on forex, he said, MTN Group and the original shareholders injected a total of $402, 625,419 into MTN Nigeria between 2001 and 2006 in the form of loans and equity.
“These initial inflows were the basis for the issuance of various legacy CCIs obtained from Authorized Dealers in accordance with regulations. The inflow of capital has been confirmed by the CBN.
“Although over time the CCIs have been re-issued, consolidated and re-constituted to reflect the changing MTN capital and shareholding structure, the amount of 402, 625,419, has remained the same.
“One aspect of the changing capital structure was the conversion of shareholder loans to preference shares. It is important to note that all the historic dividends were declared against valid equity CCIs and in fact no preference dividends were declared and no interest in respect of these preference shares was paid.”
“In August 2018 MTN submitted comprehensive documentation to the office of the AG. MTN Nigeria has also completed an initial assessment of the full period which indicates that total payments made to the tax authorities in regard to these foreign imports and payments in aggregate are $700 million. There are valid reasons for the differences between the actual payments and the AG high-level assessment.
“We were notified by the office of the AG last week that they have not accepted the documentation presented and they have given notice of an intention to recover the $2.0bn from MTN Nigeria. Based on the detailed review performed MTN Nigeria believes it has fully settled all amounts owing under the taxes in question.” He said.