The Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS) has shut down Gratias International School, Regency Hotels and three business premises in Abuja for tax evasion.
FCT-IRS’ Acting Director, Legal Services, Festus Tsavsar, who led the enforcement team to seal the affected establishments on Thursday, said the closures were backed by an order of a court obtained by the revenue agency.
According to Tsavsar, the sealed school changed its name from Gratias International School to DGIS College to evade tax payments.
Other business premises that were closed include Urban Homes Ltd, Trevari International Company and Phenomenon International Company.
Tsavsar explained that the hotel and business premises contravened FCT tax laws by refusing to file their annual returns, despite issuing several notices, including court summons.
He said, “We have been able to effectively comply with the court order by sealing off the premises as directed. We went to Gratias International School located in Games Village, Kaura, and sealed it off.
“The offence they committed was refusal to file their annual returns despite many notices, including a Court Summon but the school management refused to comply.
“We are at their premises and the management refused to attend to us; and refused to open their doors, despite many calls for them to do so to enable us to enforce the court order,” he said.
The Acting Director expressed concern over the continued refusal by the school’s management to comply with the tax law, adding that the action was simply tax evasion, which he described as a criminal offence.
He added that to worsen the case, the management had changed their name to DGIS College to evade tax payments.
“This is also a criminal offence. The school has not been paying their taxes at all, and also refused to file their annual returns since establishment,” he said.
“From there we went to seal off Rural Urban Homes Ltd in Utako and two business premises residing in Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, namely Trevari International Company and Phenomenon International Company,” he said.