Anambra State government has planned unified revenue enforcement team to enhance credible and accountable payments in the state.
Greg Ezeilo, executive director of Anambra Internal Revenue Service (AiRS) made the disclosure in Awka on Tuesday.
He said that the establishment was in the process of establishing a high breed unified revenue enforcement team (HURET) at two levels.
“This team will comprise representatives of: AiRS (Primary Host), Ocha Brigade, ARTMA, ANSA, ANJET and other related revenue accruing MDAs.
“The team shall be trained to exhibit all decent, legal, and civil matters in revenue enforcement process, non-harassment of the citizens, non-violence, non-intimidation or any form of undue arrest unless where the subject constitutes an obstruction of justice in the process of revenue collection,” he said.
According to him, the team shall operate at jurisdictional levels of North, Central and South with each jurisdictional team working independently without crossing each other’s paths.
“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.
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“The public is 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 said.
Ezeilo added that the attention of AiRS otherwise known as the “Service” has been drawn to the indiscriminate and unscrupulous activities of some individuals across the state purported to be revenue and other tax collectors on behalf of it.
“This has not only created mistrust in the minds of Anambra people but also has caused untold embarrassments to the Service and the government.
“The Service has not at any time or in any way instructed or authorised the arrest of any traditional ruler or their subjects (as purported from some quarters) unless where such subjects are in contravention of the laws of land.
“The purported loading and offloading taxes under the flying revenue window hitherto collected from truck operators and other related produce movers across the state has been abolished by Gov. Chukwuma Soludo.
“Anybody found enforcing such collections (loading and offloading) shall be apprehended and promptly prosecuted.
“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 any way 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 notice requested to present themselves at the Revenue House starting from May 29 to August 4, 2023.
“This is to prove the 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,” Ezeilo said.
