FG seeks Court order for Binance to pay Nigeria $79 billion economic loss fine, $2 billion tax

The Nigerian government, through the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), has filed a lawsuit in the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking a court order for Binance Holdings Limited to pay a total of $79,514,055,594.40 and N231 million for alleged economic losses caused by its operations in Nigeria. Additionally, the government is demanding $2,001,000,000 in income tax for the years 2022 and 2023.

These financial claims include a 10% penalty for the failure to pay income taxes for 2022 and 2023, as well as a 26.75% interest rate per annum, which is the prevailing Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) lending rate, applied from January 1, 2023, and January 1, 2024.

Binance, a global cryptocurrency exchange platform, and two of its executives, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, are accused of violating Nigerian laws by failing to register with the FIRS for tax compliance, thereby causing economic losses during the period under review.

The lawsuit alleges that Binance deliberately concealed its business activities despite having a “significant economic presence” in Nigeria. The violations cited include breaches of the Nigerian Companies Income Tax (CIT) Act, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (Establishment) Act 2007, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Regulatory Framework for Mobile Money Services, and the Companies Income Tax (CIT) Significant Economic Presence (SEP) Order.

The SEP Order, referenced in the lawsuit, specifies conditions under which foreign and non-resident companies, particularly those offering digital services, become liable for taxation in Nigeria. According to the order, a foreign company is considered to have a significant economic presence in Nigeria if it generates an annual gross turnover of at least N25 million (or its equivalent in foreign currencies) from digital activities, among other criteria. The SEP Order, signed by former Minister of Finance Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, was gazetted by the Nigerian government in May 2020.

Binance has faced regulatory fines in several countries, including the United States, for similar infractions.