Kaduna Mandates Adults to Pay N1000 Development Levy

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

From 2021, every adult living in Kaduna State would be required to pay a compulsory N1,000 yearly as development levy.

The Executive Chairman of the Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service (KADIRS), Mr Zaid Abubakar, confirmed this in a notice posted on the official Facebook page of the agency, which is linked to the official website of the tax body, http://www.kadirs.kdsg.gov.ng/news.php.

Mr Abubakar noted that the payment of the levy was in line with Section 9 (2) of the Kaduna State Tax Codification and Consolidation Law, 2020.

The money would be used for the development of the state and it is the contribution of residents of the state to the achievement of this, he explained.

He said the state government has made efforts to transform the state and that it was necessary for adults in Kaduna State to pay towards giving more dividends of democracy to all.

“Payment of development levy is compulsory, citizens of Kaduna State from 18 years and above are entitled to pay their development levy into Kaduna State Revenue Accounts; it’s your civic responsibility to pay your N1,000 as development levy,” the agency said in the posted on Tuesday.

“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,” the agency quoted Mr Abubakar in another post on Thursday.

“Paying for national development is a must in Kaduna State, we call on every Kaduna State member from 18 years [to pay the levy] as paying for the development of the country is a must,” the tax body said.

In the words of Mr Abubakar, “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.”

According to him, 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.