By Suzy Chukwuechedom l Anambra
The Anambra State Government has reviewed its property tax rates and streamlined its assessment process to eliminate arbitrary charges and make payments more transparent.
The reform was disclosed by the Director of Informal Services at the Anambra Internal Revenue Service (AIRS), Dr Ndubuisi Achebe, as part of broader efforts to expand the state’s tax base and boost internally generated revenue.
Dr Achebe said the revised system involves enumerating properties, categorising them for assessment and assigning each property a unique identification number alongside a separate assessment identification number.
He said the new approach enables property owners to identify their assessments and make payments through designated banks or the service’s online portal.
“We have streamlined the rates and made the assessment process more understandable. Property owners should know what they are paying and be confident that the money is going into government coffers,” he said.
Achebe explained that the ongoing enumeration exercise is concentrated in urban and semi-urban areas, with plans to extend coverage to rural communities. He added that the reform is intended to broaden the tax base rather than increase rates, noting that collecting moderate amounts from more eligible property owners would improve revenue while reducing inconsistencies.
He clarified that commercial properties, including plazas adjoining markets, are liable to property tax, while levies imposed on traders operating within markets are separate.
On enforcement, Achebe said the service had begun distributing revised assessment and demand notices, with the law requiring a 30-day notice period before enforcement can begin.
He urged property owners who have not received their notices to visit any AIRS office with a photograph of their buildings and the relevant addresses.
Meanwhile, the Executive Chairman of AIRS, Mr Ikeazor Nnaemeka Okonkwo, said the service is targeting one million registered and actively engaged taxpayers, up from the inherited database of about 500,000 individuals.
Okonkwo disclosed that only about 10 per cent of those registered under the Anambra State Identification Number system filed annual tax returns for the 2025 tax year, describing the situation as a significant problem.
He said enforcement against those who failed to regularise their tax affairs has commenced, stressing that it would be clean, legal and supported by law, not violent.
“We are not going to undertake violent enforcement. What we are doing is enforcing what the law says we should enforce,” he said.
