Tanzania tax tribunal orders Acacia to pay $41.3 mln

DAR ES SALAAM, April 6 (Reuters) - A Tanzanian government tax tribunal has accused Acacia Mining (LSE: ABG.L - news) , formerly known as African Barrick Gold (Other OTC: ABGLF - news) , of tax evasion and ordered the London-listed company to pay $41.25 million to the African nation.

Acacia denied the allegations and said it would appeal against the ruling, which comes against the backdrop of a tax crackdown instigated by Tanzania's new president John Magufuli.

The Tax Revenue Appeals Tribunal said in a ruling seen by Reuters on Wednesday that it had evidence that Acacia was engaging in "a sophisticated scheme of tax evasion" in Africa's fourth-largest gold producer.

The March 31 ruling read by Fauz Twaib, a Tanzanian high court judge who is the chairman of the Tax Revenues Appeals Tribunal, said that Acacia paid dividends to its shareholders worth $412.5 million between 2010 and 2013 but evaded a 10 percent withholding tax by declaring losses.

Acacia, which owns three gold-producing mines in Tanzania, said on its website that it believed the tribunal's judgment to be "fundamentally flawed" and that it would appeal against the ruling in Tanzania's Court of Appeal.

"Acacia and its subsidiaries fully comply with all international and domestic tax legislation and have not and never will undertake any form of tax evasion or tax avoidance schemes," the company's statement added.

Mining and energy companies in Tanzania have said they have come under increased regulatory pressure in recent years as the government has sought to boost its share of their revenue. (Reporting by Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala; Editing by George Obulutsa and David Goodman)