For decades, Lagos State has been exploiting its strategic location along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean as well as serving as the nation’s commercial hub in enacting all sorts of charges for residents. The rate of the influx of people from all parts of the country and beyond into the state is hard to measure.
Now, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has enacted a new Lagos State Land Use Charge Law, LUC, which has not gone down well with the people. Many residents seem to have misunderstood its provisions. But a look at the LUC 2018 shows that the law merely emphasizes property tax, aimed at consolidating its ground rent, tenement rate, and neighbourhood improvement levy.
It is an annual charge rate expressed as a percentage of the assessed market value of the property and empowers the state government to vary between owner-occupied property and other property, as well as residential property and commercial or revenue generating property.
According to the Law, the annual charge rate to be applied to eligible property in Lagos State shall be as follows: owner-occupied residential property – 0.076 per cent per annum of the assessed property value, and owner-occupied pensioner’s property.
The landed property that fall under the LUC include industrial premises of manufacturing concerns at the rate of 0.25 per cent per annum of the assessed property value, residential property (owner and third party) at the rate of 0.25 per cent per annum of the assessed property value, residential property (without owner in residence) at the rate of 0.76 per cent per annum of the assessed property value, commercial property (used by occupier for business purposes) at the rate of 0.76 per cent per annum of the assessed property value and vacant property and open empty land at the rate of 0.76 per cent per annum of the assessed property value.
The law also provides various forms of relief that are available to payers of LUC.
To enjoy the available reliefs, payers will need to provide relevant documentary evidence to support their relief claims. All LUC paid within 15 days of receipt of Demand Notice will enjoy a timely payment discount of 15 per cent.
The LUC empowers the Commissioner for Finance to appoint Property Identification Officers, Professional Valuers and other persons as may be considered necessary for the purpose of assessing the charge applicable to a property. The category of property exempted from LUC includes property owned and occupied by a religious body and used exclusively as a place of worship or religious education, public cemeteries and burial grounds, property used as a registered educational institution certified by the Commissioner to be non-profit making; property used as public library or as a private library; any property specifically exempted by the Governor by notice published in the Gazette; and all palaces of recognized Obas and Chiefs in the state.
