The Nigerian government’s tax evasion lawsuit against Binance Holdings Limited and two of its executives has been postponed until April 19th, 2024.
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) brought charges against Binance and its officials, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, on Thursday, accusing them of tax evasion.
Gambaryan, Binance’s head of financial crime compliance, appeared in court for his arraignment. However, Kano Times reports that Anjarwalla escaped from Nigerian custody two weeks ago.
The lawsuit outlines four main accusations:
- Failure to Register and Pay Taxes: The FIRS alleges that Binance did not register with them and neglected to pay all applicable taxes despite offering services to Nigerian users.
- Missing VAT Invoices: The charges claim that Binance failed to issue invoices for transactions on their platform, hindering the assessment and collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) from users.
- Undeducted VAT on Crypto Transactions: FIRS argues that Binance should have deducted and remitted VAT on cryptocurrency purchases, sales, and transfers conducted on their platform.
- Aiding Tax Evasion: The lawsuit accuses Binance of facilitating tax evasion by their users, who allegedly did not pay their taxes due on cryptocurrency transactions.
These alleged violations are said to contravene Sections 8 and 29 of the VAT Act (1993), Section 40 of the FIRS Establishment Act (2007), and Section 94 of the Companies Income Tax Act (all as amended).
The case’s adjournment allows both parties time to prepare their arguments before the court reconvenes on April 19th.
