Lagos waives N5.7tn land use charge

The Lagos State Government has waived penalties for Land Use Charge for 2017, 2018 and 2019, translating to N5.752 trillion potential revenue, the Commissioner of Finance, Rabiu Olowo, disclosed on Wednesday.

Olowo who said this at a briefing on the new 2020 land use charge law  on Wednesday, said the current administration decided to review the Land Use Charge law by reversing the rate of Land Use Charge to pre-2018 while upholding the 2018 method of valuation.

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Recall that in 2018, there was an increase in Land Use Charge rate as well as the method of valuation of properties, which led to a sporadic increase in the charge for property owners.

The Commissioner announced a  48% reduction in the Annual Charge Rates in additional to the re- introduction of the 15% early payment discount, an additional COVID-19 incentive of 10% will be granted on the total amount payable, which s makes the total discount for early payment 25% if payment is made before due date

Another major sector that had its charge reduced is the Agricultural sector, which annual charge rate was reduced from 0.076% to 0.01%. This is an 87% reduction from the old rate.

Olowo said: “While we hope for the return of normalcy to business activities across the State, it is important to let you know that, the payment of LUC is not intended to inflict any hardship on anyone, we believe that we are all partners in progress and together, we can achieve a Greater Lagos of our dream.”