By Amaka Amaka
The Enugu state Internal Revenue Service has embarked on market and street storm sensitization rally in the state aimed at informing residents and citizens that land use Act will take full effect in the state from January 2024.
Speaking to journalists at the commencement of the rally on Friday, the Chairman Enugu state internal revenue Service,Mr Emmanuel Ekene Nnamani said that the new tax regime in Enugu would involve payment of purchase tax, withholding tax on rent and tax on advertisement in the media.
Stating that every landlord who collects rent should have to pay ten percent of it to the government, the chairman emphasized that enforcement of all the taxes especially the purchase tax takes effect by first week of 2024.
“You know that the state government recently presented its budget estimate for 2024 and the budget estimate of 521 billion naira is heavily hitched on internally generated revenue.
“Now for that internally generated revenue to be actualized, we need to sensitize the entire environment, citizens of Enugu and residents of Enugu that come 2024, we are going to do business unusual in the area of revenue generation especially as it concerns our taxes”.
Nnamani continued: “So it’s time, we want to give Enugu people the best of explanation they want by answering all their questions.
“We are navigating our tax from traditional tax to a new tax regime whereby there are area of taxes that we are given priority, and this priority we must have to ensure that citizens understand what we are doing.
By next year, (2024) we will be taking it to the next level, our purchase tax which is in our laws, we have started implementing, we are going to enforce it to the last level so that every single person that is supposed to pay purchase tax pays by first week of January.”
Nnamani also said that the service had started enforcing withholding tax on rent.
According to him “Our people are not conversant with the tax laws that require that every landlord that receive rent should pay 10% of it as tax to the government. This we need to let the public know that by first week of January we are going to enforce it and we make sure that we collect this revenue to the last kobo.
“Our area of tax is our land use charge, we are taking this land use charge even to the villages because every land belong to the government but we will make sure that people are asked to pay what they can afford. So in this land use Act, every single house that needed to maintain the land that government has allocated to them will be able to pay land use charge.
“Moreso, we are taking this to another level, the pit, all the areas people are excavating sands and gravels (our own gold in Enugu) we don’t have another gold apart from these sand, gravel, so we are going to make sure that every revenue accrue to the government in all area is actually harnessed.
These are new area of revenue that we want to make the public conversant with in this Christmas period so that as we are celebrating Christmas, we can also digest the new narrative of Enugu come 2024. We are not increasing any tax base, the tax as it remains, is what we are maintaining, we do not have the powers to even increase tax rate.
“The tax we are collecting is in accordance with the law.
The law says, “for purchase tax, 5% of your sales for hotels, 10% of you advertisement in the media, then for withholding tax on rent, 10%. That’s the provision of law. We are not adding to it, we are not increasing it, it remains as it is. The only thing is that those who have not been paying, they must pay now.
We are covering the entire Enugu, markets, streets, Nsukka, Oji River, 9th mile, Agbani, and all the 17 local government areas in the state.
“We want to make sure that all these areas are aware of what we are going to do. We have fliers we will share to every nooks and crannies of the state till five good days from today”.
In an interviewed, a trader, Mrs Sonia Ede, said: “I don’t think business people are supposed to be pay those taxes in Enugu because it is very bitter to us, we have been angry since we heard about this tax of a thing. “We hustle every day, government did not provide anything for us we come outside here, some are nursing mothers, some are single mothers even youths are looking for what to do when government is not providing work for them, they will start mounting on us to start paying tax. Where do they expect us to get the money from to pay the tax, tax, tax, tax, I think the government should overlook it. Government get allocation from the federal, why are they trying to force the people to pay tax, what are they using the allocation for. Let them use the allocation for amenities instead of forcing people like us to pay tax.”
Another trader, Mr Simon Oyigbo, lamented the economic situation in the country.
“It’s good to pay tax but due to the hardship in the country, government supposed to give us waver and increase our sources of income. My question is, all these money we pay annually, are they different from this tax of a thing.”
In her opinion, Mrs Chinyere Chukwudinso, told our correspondent: “I think it is necessary for the people to pay their tax, but not for those ones that are hawking pure water etc. Traders should be made to pay tax but there should be waver for the roadside hawkers along with the pure water sellers. Anyone who has a shop is supposed to pay tax.”
The road show kicked off from the office of Internal Revenue Service through New market-Holy ghost-Ogui road and terminated at the last bus stop in New Haven.
Our correspondent reports that the service grouped themselves into three to ensure they storm everywhere in the state. Group A, led by the Director Inspectorate, Mrs Henrietta Amadi is expected to cover New Haven, Abakpa, Emene, New market, Old park, Ogui road, Abakaliki Road and Nike, group B led by the Director for Assessment, Mr Simon Njoku will cover Agbani road, Agbani, Coal Camp, Zik Avenue and Garriki while group C led by led by the Director Area Tax office, Mr Johnson Ugwu will cover Nsukka axis.
