By NIyi Jacobs
The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has directed Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) to remit the Value Added Tax (VAT) on commissions received from Remita between 2015 and 2022 to the Federal Government’s recovery account.
This decision follows an investigation into alleged revenue leakages through the REMITA platform.
During the committee’s scrutiny of GTB’s records, it was revealed that the bank had not remitted the VAT for eight years, believing that Remita had already deducted the tax. However, the committee unanimously resolved that GTB should pay the overdue VAT.
Other banks, including Keystone, Zenith Bank, Sterling Bank, Polaris Bank, FCMB, Ecobank, and Wema, are also under scrutiny for their transactions with Remita.
The committee’s chairman, Rep. Bamidele Salam (PDP-Osun), emphasized the need for transparency and compliance with standard operating procedures in revenue collection and remittance.
GTB’s Executive Director, Ahmed Liman, stated that the bank charged 0.75% on all transactions through the Remita platform and received N254,489,013 from the Accountant General through Remita in 2018.
The investigation is ongoing, and the committee is working to ensure that all revenue due to the Federal Government is recovered and accounted for.
