Onitsha (Anambra) – The Anambra government has vowed to recover about N7.4 billion owed it by defaulters of property tax and land rates between 2011 and 2014.
The Head of Human Resources at the Anambra Property and Land Use Charge (APLUC), Mrs Chinenye Okafor, said the recovery would improve the state’s internal revenue.
Okafor told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Onitsha, Anambra on Thursday that the agency had commenced the distribution of 67,270 demand notices in seven local governments considered the most densely populated.
She listed the council areas as Onitsha North, Onitsha South, Ogbaru, Nnewi North, Idemili North, Oyi and Aguata.
“People need to have such notices to know what they are expected to pay to the government.
“Our laws state that if payment is not effected after 30 days of the notice, defaulters will get 2.5 per cent penalty on the existing bill before they are charged to court.
“We are expecting that the revenue should have started coming in now because of the number of demand notices so far distributed, but the response is not encouraging,” Okafor noted.
She warned property owners that their property would be sealed if they failed to pay within the specified period of grace once court judgments are obtained.
Okafor urged Gov. Willie Obiano to strengthen the revenue team by fast-tracking the establishment of special revenue courts to determine such cases summarily.
She also urged Obiano to put in place efficient and effective mechanism for tax collection while also sensitising the people to know the importance of taxes and levies. (NAN)