Nigeria: Guinness Nigeria paid over N1.6 bln in taxes last year

Despite the poor operating environment marred by socioeconomic, political uncertainty and regulatory headwinds, Guinness Nigeria Plc paid a total of over N1.6billion in taxes at the end of the company’s operating year in 2019, The Nation has learnt.

Giving fresh insights on the company’s activities in the outgoing year, the Managing Director of Guinness Nigeria Plc, Baker Magunda, while addressing journalists at its corporate headquarters in Lagos, recently, said last year was quite fortuitous for the company as it made good despite innumerable challenges.

The company, he said, achieved some milestones.

According to Magunda who shared major highlights of the company’s economic fundamentals with focus on the businesses’ internal and external stakeholders.

Specifically, he said, as a responsible corporate citizen, the company continuously adhere to operating procedures within the laws of the land.

“A significant part of our income was paid as tax to the government, the sum of over N1.6billion constituted the total amount paid for tax and other monies remitted to the government.

“Our taxes consist of excise duties as well as income taxes, corporate income tax and others as required by the Nigerian government.”

The Guinness Nigeria boss, who recalled that the company has a long heritage with the country dating back to over 70 years ago, said, the company’s mandate to continue to set stores by the ideas and ideals of rewards and responsibilities informed its decision to continuously invest in social services across the length and breadth of the country.

While noting that the company has never lost sight of satisfying its crop of over 68,000 shareholders the substantial part of which are local investors, in the same token, meeting the needs of her host communities as well as other external publics remains a bounden duty of sorts.

Apart from supporting worthy causes which cut across different spheres of life, Guinness Nigeria, Magunda noted, has in the last 12 months committed a lot of funds into some corporate social responsibility projects including healthcare, social infrastructure to mention a few, which have had meaning impacts in the lives of the people.

Enumerating some of these projects, he said over 27000 households across eight states made up of smallholder farmers benefitted from one form of we empowerment or the other, just as 800 direct jobs and an additional 180 jobs linked to several indirect jobs in thousands have continued to benefit from the business.

Besides, he said the company has very flexible policies, good corporate governance processes and best practices, all aimed at making ensuring value for all stakeholders.

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