Popular Yoruba actress Iyabo Ojo has criticised Lagos State Government over allegation of tax evasion.
According to a report by the state government, the movie star was said to have owing about N18 million in tax between 2021 and 2022.
Lagos Internal Revenue Service noted that Iyabo Ojo has failed to pay N7,376,000.00 tax for the year 2022 and N11,264,092 in back taxes for the 2021 tax year.
In her response, the Nollywood star on her official Instagram account displayed receipts of tax payments for her businesses.
“How much do they even pay an actress, and how much do they pay us per set? How many movies do I do in a year now?
“That’s because they do not pay well. Okay, as an actress or an influencer, how do they come up with these prices that they charge? How do they come up with such an outrageous fee because the amount is too much?”
“Omo, the tax I pay, I don’t think you pay it. You come to my office in Lekki, and I will bring out everything for you to see. So it is not that I don’t pay tax, but you cannot charge me such an outrageous amount,” she lamented.
Meanwhile, a popular lawyer, Richard Akinnola on his Facebook page slammed of flaunting attire worths N37.5 Million and not been able to pay her tax.
He said, “You claimed that the “yeye” dress you wore to the African Magic viewers awards night cost N37.5. Now, Lagos state internal revenue is slamming you with N18 million tax and you are crying wolf. Iyabo Ojo, go and pay or negotiate a downward review. See why it’s not good to be lying just to show you are a big girl. I hope all those emergency skit makers claiming they bought houses and array of SUVs in one day would learn from this showmanship.
“Still on Iyabo Ojo’s tax matters, as usual, many people became emotive depending of their political spectrum. The truth of the matter is that in the UK and US, once your standard of living is flamboyant or you make some outlandish financial claims, the tax people would be on your trail.
“I recall about some years ago, when Linda Ikeji posted that she bought a house at Banana Island for N500 million, the Lagos Internal Revenue went after her for her tax details and she now said she didn’t buy it but rented it. The lesson to learn from all these is for these so-called celebrities to stop living fake lives on the Instagram just to impress people.”
