Lagos declares N436 billion internally generated revenue

24 Apr 2017
Financial Nigeria

Summary

The Commissioner for Finance said the number of tax payers in Lagos State increased to over five million in 2016.

Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode

The Lagos State Commissioner for Finance, Akinyemi Ashade, has announced that the state government recorded Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of N436.3 billion in 2016 as against N399.4 billion realised in 2015. According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the Commissioner for Finance stated this today at a press briefing to mark Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s second year in office.

Ashade attributed the increase in revenue to the introduction of innovative ideas and continuous public sensitisation efforts of the government on the payment of taxes. He said the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) generated N247.022 billion, about 80% of the total state revenue for 2016.

The Commissioner said 420,000 residents became registered tax payers in 2016. As a result, the number of tax payers in Lagos State increased to over five million, from 4.6 million in 2015. He said the Governor’s policies have been beneficial to the growth of businesses in the state, with the development of infrastructure, enabling an increase in the generation of revenue.

“Governor Akinwunmi Ambode provided a conducive, safe and secured enabling environment for businesses to thrive. We equally embarked on massive infrastructure development with strong patronage of indigenous contractors which helped to boost the state’s Gross Domestic Product,” he said.

The Commissioner noted that one of the innovative efforts implemented to boost the state’s coffers was the opening of more payment channels to facilitate payment of Land Use Charge (LUC) by a large number of land owners in the state. Ashade said the LUC payments for 2016 totalled N7 billion, as against N6 billion in 2015. He reminded property owners that the charge was an annual obligation, which enables the state government to actualise project development for the progress of the state and its residents.

Ashade advised residents who are dissatisfied with the charges to make an appeal to the Land Use Charge Assessment Tribunal for a resolution, rather than the use of conventional courts. He said so far, the tribunal has handled 500 cases and resolved 195 cases with appropriate payments made by the property owners.


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