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Lagos Introduces Transport Levy, Commercial Drivers To Pay ₦800 Daily
Lagos State Government introduces harmonized transport levy, commercial drivers to pay ₦800 daily.
Lagos State Government said the consolidated levy would reduce the multiplicity of levies collection.
It said that the levy will take care of dues previously accrued to local councils as well as revenue for LAWMA and LASEPA.
The Lagos State Government, on Tuesday, announced the introduction of a daily ₦800 Consolidated Informal Transport Sector Levy for transporters in the state.
This was revealed by the Lagos State finance commissioner, Dr Rabiu Olowo, at the agreement-signing ceremony by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), local councils and transport unions.
According to Olowo, the initiative, which will take effect from 1st of February, will harmonise the taxes paid by transporters to the state government.
The commissioner, while reiterating that bus drivers pay nothing less than ₦3,000 daily as a levy, said the state government was poised to harmonise things and have a single charge of N800 daily.
“We want to harmonise, to have a single charge of ₦800. We want to moderate the fee payable to the goverment. This is a very insightful breakthrough for all those who do business within informal transport sector in the state,”
Olowo said the consolidated levy would reduce the multiplicity of levies collection, as many transporters have complained about the huge levies often collected by the Transport Union.
“The government of Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu has inspired that we all come together to have a consolidated levy that takes care of personal income taxes, dues on environment Local Government levy and others. We want to reduce the multiplicity of collection taxes, dues and levies.
“We want to build a reliable database so that all the players will be captured in the same data; we want to have bus drivers with their cards; we want to bring collaborative engagement,” he said.
He explained that the levy will take care of dues previously accrued to local councils across the state, as well as revenue for Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) and Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), Lagos State Inland Revenue Service (LIRS) among other MDAs.
Olowo also said that the government expects that union members will not collect levies from transporters, as they are not expected to pay at every bus stop or park.
The commissioner also made an allusion to a report about the ₦123 billion that transport unions collect in Lagos under the disguise of collecting dues. He said that the new development will eliminate multiple taxes.
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