Traders in Anambra State have been thrown into a frenzy as officials of the state Internal Revenue Service, AIRS, force them to pay taxes in cash, News About Nigeria reports.
The traders who lamented the fact that they were forced to pay on the spot as the officials moved from shop to shop, claimed that they was no prior notice given to them before the the officials stormed their shops demanding for cash.
According to report, traders were seen hurriedly closing their shops at the Aroma area of the state capital, while those who were not fast enough, were caught and forced to pay cash on the spot based on the contents of the shop.
However, the officials of the state Internal Revenue Service, AIRS, claimed thi had given out notice to the traders weeks before the incident.
One of the traders identified as Angela, who spoke with Vanguard News, expressed her displeasure at the incident, stating that she was surprised when the enforcement team rounded on her salesgirl and demanded evidence of her annual tax returns.
According to her, after the enforcement team had taken stock of the contents of her shop, they had demanded she paid the sum of N75,000 immediately as that was the amount of tax her shop was worth.
She however sated that the contents of her shop were not up to that amount.
She further revealed that no account was provided for the money to be paid into, neither was any receipt issued to her after she paid the sum of N35000 accompanied with lots of pleading.
” They later dropped a notice which ought to have been sent earlier, but wasn’t sent”. She said
