By Izunna Okafor, Awka
Governor Chukwuma Soludo-led Anambra State Government has announced plans to establish another revenue enforcement team in the state, to complement the works of the already-existing ones in ensuring adequate enforcement of taxation and revenue collection in the state.
The Executive Director of Shared Services/IT, Anambra Internal Revenue Service (AIRS), Dr. Greg Ezeilo, made this known in a press release issued to newsmen on Friday.
According to him, the new tax enforcement team will be known as ‘Hybrid Unified Revenue Enforcement Team (HURET)’ and will operate at two levels. He also noted that the Team will comprise representatives of AiRS (as the primary host), OCHA Brigade, ATMA, ANSAA, ANJET and other related revenue accruing MDAs.
“The team shall be trained to exhibit all decent, legal, and civil manners in revenue enforcement process—non-harassment of the citizens, non-violence, no intimidation, or any form of undue arrest unless where the subject constitutes an obstruction of justice in the process of revenue collection.
“The team shall operate at jurisdictional levels of North, Central and South, with each jurisdictional team working independently without crossing each other’s paths,” he said.
Dr. Ezeilo also warned that any member of the team found wanting in any manner devoid of respectable ethical values shall be dealt with according to the laws of the land.
“The public is by this notice advised never to pay any levies or taxes to anybody unless duly authorized by the Service. Such persons must have been accredited and certified with a Revenue Collection Certificate (RCC) to be issued and re-issued by the Service from time to time,” he advised.
The AIRS official, in the press release, also debunked the trending publications alleging that Governor Soludo has authorized the arrest of traditional rulers diverting revenues of the government in the state.
He further reiterated that the purported loading and offloading taxes under the flying revenue window, hitherto collected from truck operators and other related produce movers across the State, remain abolished by the Governor Soludo, warning that anybody found enforcing such collections shall be apprehended and promptly prosecuted.
Dr. Ezeilo said, “In place of such levies shall be a haulage charge which ONLY becomes due and payable at the State boundary locations at the ENTRY/EXIT points between Anambra and other neighboring States. The Service is currently working on appropriate technologies that would aid in determining accurate levies for inbound/outbound haulage vehicles across these boundary locations.
“This would not in anyway affect passenger vehicles plying across these routes. The emergent technologies would be able to determine appropriate levies depending on the weight of the vehicle and the cargo; the determined levies would then be paid via electronic means.
“All revenue agents/contractors of all sorts covering Commerce fees, produce fees, sand beach collections, welders/fabricators, forestry, Asaba Township Bus, chippings; and government parks
are, by this press notice, requested to present themselves at the Revenue House starting from Monday May 31st to August 3rd, 2023 between the hours of 11am and 4pm for proof of authorisation; failing which, any person or group of persons acting or operating as revenue agent/enforcer on behalf of the Service would be arrested and prosecuted according to the law.”
