The chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Christopher Maikalangu has said that the council task force on enforcement would commence the sealing of hotels from Monday over tax evasion from most hoteliers in the council.
He said that a meeting that was held with the association of hoteliers known as HOFA in the council secretariat, hampered the importance of the taxes for the running of the area council.
Maikalangu further said that since the hoteliers have been given 14 days demand notice which has since elapsed, the AMAC task force would commence enforcement on Monday next week to verify compliance and seal the hotels of defaulters.
On the issue of double taxation hoteliers have been complaining about, he said that AMAC only collects liquor license, and business premises permit, among others.
“One notice is usually given and since the area council has done that, the task force will start enforcement on Monday. The area council has also furnished them with its account number. Anybody that paid to another account number would be on his or her own.
“As a council, this administration has fulfilled its promises to provide transformers and other facilities where there were none, and such facilities were usually provided through revenue generated from business operators in the area council,” he said.
On the collection of taxes and other revenues by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), he said that the FCTA, or any of its agencies, lacks the jurisdiction to collect revenue from business operators because they are not area councils.