Residents of Kogi State will now be required to pay ground rent as part of the state’s tax reforms aimed at boosting revenue generation, The Bureau Newspaper has gathered.
The Chairman of the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KGSIRS), Alhaji Sule Enehe, disclosed this during a stakeholders’ engagement on the implementation of the Land Use Charge Law, 2024 held at the KGSIRS office in Lokoja on Tuesday.
Enehe announced that the revenue service had mobilized teams of house enumerators ready for deployment across the state’s 21 Local Government Areas (LGAs) to facilitate the implementation of the new law.
Enhancing Revenue Collection and Transparency
According to the KGSIRS chairman, the new ground rent initiative is part of a broader effort to streamline tax collection, enhance transparency, and ensure all stakeholders contribute their fair share to Kogi State’s development.
“This new law is aimed at improving revenue collection, promoting transparency, and ensuring that all stakeholders contribute their fair share toward the development of Kogi State,” Enehe stated.
He explained that while the KGSIRS had already been collecting tenement rates on behalf of local governments, the enforcement of ground rent had not been implemented until now.
Support from Local Government Chairmen
Enehe emphasized the importance of collaboration between local government authorities and the KGSIRS, urging council chairmen to support the house enumerators to ensure the initiative’s success.
In response, the Chairmen of Olamaboro and Lokoja LGAs, Mr. Cosmos Atabo and Mr. Abdullahi Adamu, assured that all 21 Local Government Chairmen would back the full implementation of the Land Use Charge Law at the grassroots level.
Exemptions from the Land Use Charge
Mr. Femi Williams, CEO of New Wave Echo System, provided an overview of the law, highlighting that the Land Use Charge has been successfully implemented in other states for over 15 years to strengthen revenue collection.
He clarified that certain properties would be exempt from the new charges, including:
- Government-owned properties used for public purposes
- Places of worship
- Educational institutions
- Healthcare facilities
- Properties owned by traditional rulers for official use
- Properties below a legally defined size threshold
With Kogi State joining other states in enforcing the Land Use Charge Law, stakeholders expect it to significantly improve revenue generation for infrastructural development while ensuring fairness in taxation.