BENIN CITY – It has been recommended that whatever Local Government Councils have collected arbitrarily from tax payers after the commencement of the Land Use Charge Law in Edo State must be deducted from their overall share from the state government.
This was the recommendation in a communiqué issued and read by the Chairman of Session, Hon. Justice J.I. Acha during a one-day seminar/sensitization workshop on the operations of the Edo State Land Use Charge Law held in Benin City.
According to the communiqué, it would help address the issue of double taxation in the course of collection.
The communiqué indicated the Land Use Charge Law as a single property charge which replaces all the state and local government taxes/charges on real property, including ground rent, tenement rate and property tax.
It further stated that the implementation of the law would serve as a major source of Internally Generated Revenue for the state government.
It also disclosed that there was a written agreement between the state and the local government council where powers were delegated to the state government for the purpose of collecting tenement rate under the Land Use Charge.
The communiqué reads in part: “That the Land Use Charge Law was set up to grant capacity to maximize the collectible for the local government council, harmonise the charges to avoid confusion/frequent harassment of members of the public by officials of the state/local government councils, enable payers plan, prepare and budget for land related charges/rates at the beginning of every financial year, to avoid leakages in the collection process, as well as ensuring that government,, both state/local government maximize it’s revenue potentials in the circumstances.”
The communiqué however highlighted some of the challenges militating against implementation of the Land Use Charge to include; lack of awareness, absence of cadastral/survey data house identification number, administrative machinery, use of consultant, conflict of jurisdiction/multiple taxation, computerization, exemption of property from Land Use Charge, high penalty/leakages, as well as funding.
It therefore recommended that adequate public enlightenment be carried out, while stressing the need for the media to be adequately informed of the Land Use Charge related matters so as to be able to disseminate the necessary information, create functional public enlightenment campaign unit/desk in all tax offices.
It emphasised the need for quality staffing on a continuous training with a view to acquiring more skills on current taxation trends, especially in GIS/ICT, towards aiding efficient professional services for property taxation.
It said, “Provision of logistics/inceptives to those involved in the implementation of the Law should be provided.”
The communiqué also canvassed that the law should be looked into, with a view to amending the anomalies prevalent in the law and stressed for proper computerization of the tax system, including adequate funding of Land Use Charge Offices.
It disclosed that the committee on the implementation of the Land Use Charge Law has commenced full operation.
