By GARBA MUHANNAD, Kaduna

The Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service (KADIRS) said on Wednesday that it would commence full implementation of its proposed N1,000 annual Development Levy on all adult residents of the state in 2021.

The Executive Chairman of the agency, Dr Zaid Abubakar, said at a news conference in Kaduna, that as from 2021, every adult residing in the state would be made to pay the levy in line with the provision of Section 9 (2) of the Kaduna State Tax Codification and Consolidation Law, 2020.

He added that the law mandated every adult residing in the state to pay N1,000 annually as development levy as their contribution to transform the infrastructure of the state and reposition the economy to meet the yearnings of the people.

“This will only be achieved by payment of taxes and levies, which will be ploughed back into the economy for the residents to enjoy the dividend of democracy.

“As the name implies, the development levy is for the development of the state. We are all living witnesses of the economic transformation taking place in the state.

“This is evident with the ongoing massive roads construction, renovation, upgrade and equipping of hospitals and schools, and provision of the needed infrastructure for development to thrive,” he said.

Abubakar explained that the levy was based on the constitutional provision that allows states to collect an amount, on annual basis, from residents, designated as either development levy or economic development levy.

The chairman said that the amount could be any amount depending on what the national or state assemblies determined in the tax law, stressing that the development levy had been in place in Kaduna State for over 50 years, with residents hitherto paying N100 annually, but with little enforcement.

He explained that the recent review of the state’s tax law increased the amount from N100 to N1,000 in line with current economic realities.

“We ought to have commenced enforcement since January 2020 but extended it to 2021 due to COVID-19 lockdown and its accompanying economic hardship.

“But there will be full enforcement beginning from 2021, in accordance with the provisions of the state and other relevant tax laws,” he said.

The chairman said that the levy would be collected by KADIRS in collaboration with the 23 local government areas of the state and traditional rulers, adding that the modalities would be made public soon.

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