Ben Ezechime, Enugu
The Enugu State Government is to begin full enforcement of its new Tax laws with effect from 2024.
The Chairman, Internal Revenue Service (ESIRS), Mr Emmanuel Nnamani, disclosed this during the flag-off of “street/market storm” in Enugu.
According to him, enforcing the laws would ensure that residents of the state pay appropriate tax due to them.
Nnamani regretted that many persons in the state were in the habit of evading tax which he described as illegal.
He said that the street/market storm was designed to sensitise residents on its plan to drive the purchase tax and the land use tax, noting that it had not been taken seriously before now.
“We are navigating our tax from traditional tax to a new tax regime; these are areas of tax we are giving priority and we must ensure that citizens understand what we are doing.
“By next year, we will be taking to another level our purchase tax which is in our laws. We are going to enforce it to the last level of person that will pay purchase tax by first week of January 2024.
“Then we will start enforcing withholding tax on rent. Our people are not conversant with the tax law that every landlord that receives rent should pay 10 per cent of it to the government as rent,” he said.
The IRS chairman further disclosed that the state government does not have any plan to increase the tax collected by the ESIRS.
