The Abia State Government has clarified that its ongoing tax administration reforms are not intended to increase the taxes payable by residents, but to improve transparency, accountability and ease of doing business.

The Commissioner for Information, Okey Kanu, made the clarification on Monday while briefing journalists at the Government House, Umuahia, on the outcome of the State Executive Council meeting presided over by Governor Alex Otti.

Kanu said the reforms were aimed at making tax administration more transparent, traceable, auditable, automated and taxpayer-friendly, while addressing revenue leakages, multiple collections and arbitrary practices.

“Automation is not a tax increase. Transparency is not a tax increase. Closing revenue leakages is not a tax increase,” he said.

The commissioner explained that the integration of revenue collection systems, particularly at vehicle licensing offices, was introduced to eliminate cash handling and ensure that payments made by taxpayers are properly recorded and remitted to the government.

He also stressed that there had been no increase in Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE), land or vehicle taxes, noting that the Abia State Board of Internal Revenue did not have the authority to unilaterally change tax rates.

On the issuance of Tax Clearance Certificates (TCC), Kanu said the process was being implemented in accordance with existing tax laws and the new national tax framework.

He explained that the framework requires taxpayers’ income to be properly assessed instead of relying on the previous practice of paying a flat amount without adequate assessment.

Kanu also assured residents that the government would not arbitrarily classify every fund or payment entering a taxpayer’s bank account as taxable income.

He said transactions would be subjected to lawful assessment and verification to determine which ones constituted taxable income.

Also speaking, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Internally Generated Revenue, Dr Emmanuel Okpechi, said the reforms were designed to promote transparency between taxpayers and the government.

Okpechi said taxpayers were expected to make honest declarations of their income, while the government would ensure that no citizen was taxed beyond what the law prescribed.

On the consolidated demand notice for businesses, he explained that the initiative was introduced to harmonise various charges and eliminate multiple collections by government agencies.

“Instead of multiple people coming to harass you, you pay at one point and you are cleared,” he said.

Okpechi added that the government was focused on strengthening the tax administration system and ensuring that both sides operated transparently.

“What we are doing is strengthening the system, making transparency work, both for the government and for the taxpayer. Nobody will be taxed a kobo beyond what is lawful,” he said.

The Executive Chairman of the Abia State Board of Internal Revenue, Uche Elekwachi, also maintained that the board had not increased taxes.

He said the agency was enforcing existing tax laws while introducing systems to improve compliance and reduce revenue leakages.

“There is no increment whatsoever. No increment on PAYE, no increment on lands, no increment on vehicle licences or for the issuance of Tax Clearance Certificates, TCC,” Elekwachi said.

He explained that the government had consolidated different payments to prevent taxpayers from receiving multiple demands after making the required payments.

“What the government has done is to consolidate these payments so that once you pay, nobody comes to you with any other demand notice. What we did was mere integration into the government system,” he said.

Elekwachi further clarified that the board would not automatically regard every inflow into a taxpayer’s bank account as taxable income.

He said taxpayers applying for Tax Clearance Certificates would have the opportunity to explain and provide evidence concerning the nature of their transactions during the assessment process.

The Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Ukoha Njoku Ukoha, said the clarification became necessary following claims by some opposition figures about the state’s tax reforms.

He said the new system had also consolidated various payments, including stallage and fees payable to the Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA).

“Whether it is stallage, ASEPA fee or any other, what the government did was to consolidate it, so that once one pays, he has paid everything,” Ukoha said.