The Benue Internal Revenue Service (BIRS) says the board will begin to collect taxes from telephone users, cable subscribers and land owners from January 2023.

Its executive chairman, Mimi Adzape-Orubibi, said this on Wednesday during the Joint State Revenue Committee (JSRC)/meeting in Makurdi, the state capital.

The meeting was held among the management of BIRS, 23 council chairmen, chairmen of local government revenue committee, Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission, Federal Road Safety Corps and Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.

Ms Adzape-Orubibi said JSRC would follow the 2022 BIRS Amended Act that harmonised the revenue items to end multiple taxations in the state.

She said with the amendment, tenement rate, property tax, and grounds rate would now be known as Land Use Charge.

According to her, all collections for the telephone users and cable subscribers would be deducted at the source, and they may not even know.

Ms Adzape-Orubibi further explained that telephone users would pay the sum of N1,200 per annum, cable subscribers; pay N2,400 per annum, while the size and property would determine land owners’ taxes on it.

The tax boss further explained that the board had already distributed land use charge demand notices to all landowners and sent reminders accordingly to them.

She said the local government areas would benefit 40 per cent of each harmonised revenue item, adding that “the aim is to end arbitrary collections of taxes and multiple taxations in the state’’.

Ms Adzape-Orubibi listed the harmonised taxes to include signage and advertisement, land use charge, radio and television fee, single inter-state road taxes stickers fee, single haulage fee for loading and single haulage fee for discharging of goods, single parking permits sticker fee and wharf landing charges, where applicable.

She further noted that the board was going to install security cameras at all 16 approved revenue checkpoints for improved supervision and security of staff.

At the meeting, Kenneth Achabo, Special Adviser, Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, said the automation and harmonisation would help the council chairmen know their exact revenue.

(NAN)