{"id":39201,"date":"2018-09-04T13:36:54","date_gmt":"2018-09-04T13:36:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/cregital\/disha\/2018\/09\/04\/firs-could-seal-your-office-if-you-get-these-two-notices\/"},"modified":"2018-09-04T13:36:54","modified_gmt":"2018-09-04T13:36:54","slug":"firs-could-seal-your-office-if-you-get-these-two-notices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/msmehub.org\/staging\/6671\/firs-could-seal-your-office-if-you-get-these-two-notices\/","title":{"rendered":"FIRS could seal your office if you get these two notices"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has made it clear to
\nbusinesses in Nigeria that it is serious about tackling tax
\nevasion. <\/p>\n

Relying on some of the news reports we have gathered and experiences
\nof some of the affected companies, we now fairly understand what they do
\n before they seal off any organization.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. They give you an assessment of what you owe: <\/strong>Before
    \n the tax authorities seal off your premises, they first send you a tax
    \nassessment of what you owe. Tax assessments can be done in two ways.
    \nIt’s either they assess your tax liabilities after obtaining your
    \nfinancial records, or they pass a Best of Judgement Assessment (BOJ). A
    \nBOJ is an assessment done without relying or partly relying on your
    \nfinancial records. Once an assessment is done, they send a letter to
    \nyour registered address or the most visible location of your offices.
    \nThe FIRS often gives a period of two weeks or less for response.<\/li>\n
  2. They send you a demand notice:<\/strong> If after sending you
    \n a notice of assessment for how much tax you likely owe, you do not
    \nrespond, they send you a demand notice. A demand notice can also be sent
    \n if negotiations break down between you and the tax authority. A demand
    \nnotice is basically a letter of demand that you pay tax to the FIRS. The
    \n demand notice will include the estimated tax liabilities computed
    \nagainst your company, as well as any penalty or charges that may
    \nhave accrued due to your inability to pay your tax within
    \nthe required period. A demand notice, in some cases, has a one-month
    \nperiod for the tax payer to respond to it.<\/li>\n
  3. Seal off offices:<\/strong> After
    \nthe stipulated period in demand notice has elapsed and no agreement has
    \nbeen reached, the tax authority will get their enforcement unit to
    \nseal off your office premises. We have seen instances where the
    \nenforcement unit actually sealed off offices even when negotiations were
    \n ongoing. The order to seal off offices often comes from the FIRS HQ,
    \nwhich makes it difficult for the local offices to reverse.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    We often advise startups or companies to try to pay up a part of
    \nwhat they feel is their tax liability once an assessment notice is
    \nreceived. After making payments, follow-up with self instigated meetings
    \n with the Inland Revenue. We also advise that you go with a qualified
    \nand experienced tax consultant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    FIRS could seal your office if…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1095,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[315,366,331,370],"tags":[390,600,437],"class_list":["post-39201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-filing-and-paying-taxes","category-for-startups","category-how-to-file-and-pay-taxes","category-starting-a-business-in-nigeria","tag-business","tag-startups","tag-tax"],"yoast_head":"\nFIRS could seal your office if you get these two notices - 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