A Federal High Court in Lagos has ruled that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) can charge, collect, and receive Value Added Tax (VAT) on food and transport services provided by drivers and vendors using apps like Bolt.
The decision, delivered by Justice Akintayo Aluko, backs an earlier ruling by the Tax Appeal Tribunal, which had already supported FIRS’s position.
Bolt operators had earlier gone to the Tribunal in 2022 to stop FIRS from collecting VAT on services offered through their platform. They argued that this violated the VAT Act, specifically Section 10. But the Tribunal dismissed the case in May 2023.
Unhappy with that ruling, the Bolt operators appealed to the Federal High Court. Their lawyers claimed that FIRS wrongly appointed them as tax agents and argued that Bolt isn’t a service provider, just a platform. They also said FIRS guidelines went beyond what the law allows.
In response, FIRS’s lawyer said the appeal had no real basis and asked the court to throw it out.
In the end, the court ruled mostly in favour of FIRS. It said the agency acted legally by appointing Bolt as a VAT agent under Section 10(3) of the VAT Act. The judge saw no reason to overturn the Tribunal’s earlier decision.
The court dismissed the appeal and awarded N1 million in costs to FIRS.
