MultiChoice will pay settlement of $37.3 million to Nigerian tax authorities

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Africa's biggest pay TV company MultiChoice Group said on Thursday its subsidiaries have reached a settlement with Nigerian tax authorities and agreed to pay a total tax amount of about $37.3 million.

Nigeria's Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) froze MultiChoice Nigeria's accounts in 2022 and served MultiChoice Group with a 1.8 trillion naira ($1.27 billion) tax claim for its Nigeria operation and a $342 million claim for value-added taxes.

The group said in a statement the total tax amount of 35.4 billion naira to be paid by MultiChoice Nigeria and MultiChoice Africa Holdings will be offset against the security deposits and good faith payments made to date.

($1 = 1,417.1300 naira)

(Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)