…says ½ Year Revenue Collection at 80%
By Isaac Aimurie, Henry Oqua and Goodluck Aichienede
The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, on Tuesday August 30, 2022, ordered the commencement of the collection of property tax in the State to shore up revenue figures.
Obaseki gave the order during a meeting with the heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies responsible for revenue collection in the State at Revenue House, Benin City.
Speaking to journalists after the meeting, the Governor said: “We have regular revenue meetings, so I have just come to meet with all the heads of all the Ministries, Departments and Agencies responsible for collecting revenue, to see where we are, what we have done in the first half of the year in terms of our revenue collections and also to see what plans we have in place to meet any shortfalls in revenues till date”.
He added: “We are at about 80 per cent of where we are expected to be, we have major shortfalls in the areas of property taxes, because of a judgment which stopped us from collecting tenement rate.
“So we are going ahead, dropping the issue of tenement rate, it will be unfortunate because, tenement is supposed to go to local governments and we are appealing that. In the meantime, I have just given instructions that property tax must be collected because that is the basis on which we can continue to run the government.
“We can’t build any more roads, we can’t do drainage, we can’t attend to the needs of our citizens if we don’t get taxes. And it is not the people who don’t have money that we expect to pay taxes, but the people who own properties and people who have a major stake in the economy”.
On the revenue collection drive of the State, he explained: “We are at 80 per cent of where we are expected to be at this time of the year, with a 20 per cent deficit as at the first six months of this year, instead of the expected 100 per cent.”
Investopedia explained that “Property tax is a tax paid on property owned by an individual or other legal entity, such as a corporation. Most commonly, property tax is a real estate ad-valorem tax which can be considered a regressive tax. It is calculated by a local government where the property is located and paid by the owner of the property. The tax is usually based on the value of the owned property, including land.”
