The Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service (KADIRS) has disclosed that over 50,000 Certificates of Occupancy (CofO) have not been collected months after they had been approved.
The Chairman of the agency, Comrade Jerry Adams, made the disclosure while responding to enquiries from participants at a stakeholders’ meeting in Zaria, Kaduna State.
The chairman, who was represented by the Board Secretary and Executive Director Legal Services, Barrister Aisha Ahmad, said getting a CofO in Kaduna was seamless and and urged residents to follow up on their documents after application.
He decried how a number of people who applied for the document abandoned them after they had been processed saying, “We have over 50,000 uncollected processed Certificates of Occupancy.”
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He also said the tax payment process had been simplified with the new ‘Pay Kaduna Portal’, urging tax payers to log onto the portal for easy and stress free payment of taxes.
He noted that the essence of the engagement with the theme, ‘Unlocking Revenue Potential: A Collaborative Strategy for Sustainable Growth through a Centralised Payment Gateway in Kaduna State’, was to educate the stakeholders on what the agency was doing and to get feedback on their plights.
Explaining the activities of the agency, he said, “We collect revenue from all the revenue generating Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the state then remit it back to the government that is why we have representatives from the Kaduna State Urban Property Development Authority (KASUPDA) and the Kaduna State Law Enforcement Agency (KASLEA) among others because collaboration is key to achieving our mandate.”
He equally said that the engagement was aimed at deliberating on how the agency could improve revenue collection and service delivery to the citizens.
“We want the people to begin to understand the reasons for voluntary compliance of paying tax and without such engagement, people will be left in the dark,” he added.
Also, the Executive Director, Standards and Compliance, KADIRS, Ali Gora, urged the citizens to pay their taxes voluntarily and desist from tax evasion, stressing that tax evasion and non compliance affected the revenue line.
One of the stakeholders, CMA Abubakar Muhammad, the Zonal Commander of KASTELEA, Zone six, Zaria, emphasized the importance of tax compliance in funding public services and infrastructure, while encouraging citizens to utilise the portal, promote voluntary tax payment and reduce evasion.
Also, Professor Luka Mailafiya, Chairman of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), Zaria branch, encouraged citizens to leverage the ‘Pay Kaduna Portal’ for seamless tax payments, and promote economic growth.
Recall that the ‘Pay Kaduna Portal’ was launched by Governor Uba Sani on May 22 to provide a viable means of payment of taxes and revenue through a seamless process across the state.
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