NIESV sees good governance in increased states’ IGR through property taxation

The Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) says there is inherent benefit of good governance when state governments make effort and increase internally-generated revenue (IGR).

The institution believes that IGR is key to economic development, noting that only a few states like Lagos and Rivers survive on their IGR while others cannot because they are not tapping into available income sources such as property taxation.

To address this, the institution, in collaboration with Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria (ESVARBON), will be organising a seminar aimed to sensitise state governments on the need to embrace property taxation to boost their revenue profile for service delivery and good governance.

The seminar with the theme ‘State Internally Generated Revenue: The Place of Property Taxation’ is the first in the series of the institution’s 2013 National Mandatory Continuing Professional Development (MCPD).

At a press conference to announce the seminar already slated for Thursday, September 19, at the Shell Hall of Muson Centre, Lagos, Emeka Eleh, the NIESV president, noted that unlike income tax and other avenues from which governments can raise their IGR, property taxation is stable.

He explained that if, for instance, somebody works in Lagos State and moves to Ogun or any other state, Lagos loses his income tax, but if the same person has a property in Lagos and moves to any other state, because his property is still in Lagos, the state will still be collecting tax from him.

“The idea of the seminar, therefore, is to advise government on how to raise money from property taxation. As an institution, part of our duty is advocacy in areas that can assist government; we have always advocated changes in policies that will enable government raise revenue and ensure that things are done properly,” he said.

Continuing, Eleh stressed that “the property tax is for good governance; our interest in all this is to ensure that government has enough funds to run, because we know that the oil well will dry up one day and income from that source will cease”.

Livingstone Iyanda, the MCPD national chairman, emphasised that property taxation is a veritable source of revenue for public infrastructure provision, pointing out that the seminar is packaged to expose the participants to all available sources of internally generated revenue for states.

According to him, the seminar is expected to guide all stakeholders in property taxation, including lawmakers and professional estate valuers, and it would also be an eye-opener on how the stakeholders could handle the subject of property taxation without discouraging real estate development, and still keep rents within the scope of market-derived indices.

Gbenga Olaniyan, the seminar technical committee chairman, explained that the seminar is also intended to sensitise government and to let the public know what role estate surveyors and valuers could play in property taxation and in helping government to increase their IGR.

“It appears to us as estate surveyors and valuers that people out there, including the governments, are not aware of what we can do for them. Therefore, we need to project what our role is in proper assessment and collection of IGR,” he said, adding that they want to be involved in harnessing this property tax issue the same way accountants are called in to audit companies.

The seminar, which has A. S. Asaju and Abiola Sanni as resource persons, targets property developers, professionals in the built environment, traditional rulers, finance institutions, lawmakers, among others.

By: Chuka Uroko