Determined to shore up its revenue base, the Anambra State Government may have concluded plans to introduce the controversial Land Use Charge in the State.

Already, the House of Assembly has passed a bill to give legal teeth to the novel property taxation. The State may have opted for the much maligned Land Use Charge following its success in Lagos where the State Government rakes in billions of Naira from the tax annually.

On its part, Anambra State expects to realise an annual income of N1.5 billion from the new property tax.

A Lagos-based estate surveyor and valuer, Mr Chudi Ubosi who dropped the hint at a recent workshop on property taxation organised by the International Federation of Real Estate, FIABCI, Nigeria, explained that many states may soon join the fray.

Mr Chudi Ubosi who looked at property taxation in Nigeria from the perspective of the estate surveyor and valuer described property taxation as a goldmine which many states are yet to tap into.

He however faulted the method of assessment used by Lagos State in arriving at fees to be paid for the Land Use Charge. Ubosi noted that with the slide in oil revenue from the centre, many state governments will now turn their attention on other sources of revenue generation.

“Gradually it has dawned on many State governments particularly the ones dependent on Federal allocations that steps must be taken to shore up their income and this would only be through increased focus on internally generated revenue within their States. One of the areas generally agreed upon for further action by the Governor’s Forum in 2009, is the area of taxation on property,” he said.

But immediate past publicity secretary of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, NIESV, Mr Emma Wike who bemoaned the passage of the Land Use Charge Bill by Anambra State, noted that it may spread like hurricane fire to other states. He called on the leadership of the professional body to ensure that this trend is not allowed to see the light.

A former NIESV 1st Vice President, Mr Osita Okoli who hails from Anambra State also decried the adoption of the Land Use Charge by his home state. Okoli described the Land Use Charge as structurally flawed and fundamentally impossible.

According to him, no professional body in the built environment can understand the parameter used by the Lagos State in calculating what people should pay. A bad tax foundation, he posited, will always be evaded, hence the need to review all contentious property tax policies.

Managing Director of UAC Property Development Company, UPDC, Mr Hakeem Ogunniran, a lawyer, likened private developers to local government councils because they (developers) are expected to provide every thing -access roads, water, electricity.

Despite this scenario, they are compelled to pay all manner of taxes on the property. He described the property taxation rates as too high, while the process too laborious and unfriendly.

It takes over 10 years to perfect title documents, hence less than 10 percent of properties in the country have valid title documents.

“The entire process should be reviewed; it is too people-driven instead of being process-driven,” he explained.

FIABCI chairman, Chief Kola Akomolede questioned the method adopted in the assessment of some of the property taxes, particularly in Lagos State.

The many taxes in Lagos will include Capital Gains Tax, CGT, Land Use Charge, Withholding tax, Probate tax, Consent fees, Stamp duty, Registration fee, Ratification fees, Regularisation fees, Development charges and son on. These are not just too many but the methods of their assessment are questionable.