The Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANEDO), has reacted to a recent comment attributed to Andrew Nevin, Chief Economist of PriceWaterhouse Coopers (PwC) on Wednesday, September 25, 2019, wherein concerns were raised on payment of tax by Discos, insisting that the association is not owing any tax.
Nevin, it would be recalled had at a power sector round table organized by Mainstream Energy was quoted to have declared that no Electricity electricity Distribution distribution company in Nigeria had not paid any tax to the Federal Government since 2013 when they were privatized, because they have been “on a loss-making track” since then.
ANED, in a clarification statement issued by Sunday Oduntan, Executive director of research and Advocacy, noted that while acknowledging the good intentions of Nevin’s effort to highlight the challenges of the geared towards helping the power sector navigate the challenges it currently faces contained sector in his presentation, thus, fostering dialogue that is critical for the resolution of same, we hereby, unequivocally, state that this claim relating to Discos not paying FG taxes is misleading, incorrect and not supported by the facts.
ANED in the statement noted that all of our member DisCos take their tax obligations to the Federal Governmentfederal and state governments, as applicable, seriously. As a result, the DisCos sand diligently pays all necessary taxes that apply to their operations.
These taxes include the minimum Company Income Tax (CIT), Withholding Tax (WHT) and Value Added Tax (VAT).
“We will like to encourage all parties interested in the growth and success of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry to constantly cross diligently verify their information, to avoid creating more challenges than that which already exists in the sector. check facts to ensure they are credible.”
