Court Upholds FIRS’ Authority to Collect VAT on Food and Transport Services via Platforms

• The Federal High Court in Lagos confirmed FIRS’s authority to collect VAT on services by independent drivers and vendors on platforms like Bolt.
• Justice Akintayo Aluko awarded N1 million to FIRS against Bolt operators.
• The court found no reason to overturn the Tax Appeal Tribunal’s decision from May 26, 2023.
• Bolt operators had challenged FIRS’s imposition of VAT, claiming it violated the VAT Act.
• The Tribunal dismissed the operators’ suit, and the Federal High Court upheld this dismissal.
• The operators argued that FIRS’s guidelines wrongly categorized non-resident suppliers like Bolt as taxable.
• They also claimed Bolt does not engage in transportation or food vending, thus should not be taxed.
• FIRS’s counsel argued the appeal was speculative and misrepresented the Tribunal’s ruling.
• Justice Aluko resolved key issues in favor of FIRS.

Source: thenationonlineng.net

Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.

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