By Ademola tijani
The House of Representatives has directed Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) to calculate and remit Value Added Tax (VAT) on the commissions it received from Remita transactions between 2015 and 2022 to the Federal Government’s recovery account.
The directive was issued by Rep. Bamidele Salami (PDP-Osun), Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), during an ongoing investigation into alleged revenue leakages through the Remita platform.
This instruction came after the committee unanimously resolved to take action following a review of the bank’s records and discussions with its management. The committee raised concerns over the non-remittance of VAT during the early stages of Remita transactions and is also investigating non-compliance with standard operating procedures and related issues.
GTB’s Executive Director, Mr. Ahmed Liman, explained that the bank had not remitted VAT for eight years, assuming that Remita had deducted the VAT before distributing commissions to the bank.
“We believed Remita was responsible for distributing the commission fees among the parties involved. In our view, Remita handled the necessary deductions before sharing the fees,” he stated.
Liman noted that the bank charged 0.75% on all payments made through the Remita platform and received N254.4 million from the Accountant General in 2018 via Remita.
Remita, developed by SystemSpecs, is a financial gateway technology used by the Federal Government for collecting revenue from Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) into the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
It facilitates the remittance of various taxes, including Pay as You Earn (PAYE), VAT, and Withholding Tax, as well as pension contributions and schedules to Pension Fund Administrators and Custodians.
The platform is also used by individuals and businesses for a wide range of payments.
