The Akwa Ibom Commissioner for Finance, Akan Okon, said consumption of alcohol in hotels and beer parlors in the state would now attract tax.

Mr. Okon told journalists in Uyo on Saturday that people who consumed alcoholic drinks would begin to pay a token as tax.

“Some people who lodge in hotels and consume alcohol will henceforth pay taxes to the state government.

“The focus is to look inward to see how the various opportunities that are available in the state can be harnessed to raise the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR),’’ he said.

The commissioner, however, decried the attitude of some businessmen in the informal sector of the economy who failed to pay tax to government.

Mr. Okon said that if those in the informal sector paid their taxes, the state would pull the resources together and that would help in providing social amenities in the state.

He said that property tax and entertainment tax were not collected in the state in order for tax uniformity in the state.

He explained that the state government had put measures in place to ensure that revenue opportunities were tapped to raise its IGR.

The commissioner said that a new tax consultant had been appointed to block leakages associated with revenue collection.

“We have in place a new consultant that is working closely to ensure that we block all the leakages associated with revenue collection system in the state,” he said.

The commissioner explained that e-receipt system had been introduced to check revenue leakages in the state.

“We are introducing electronic e-receipt instead of the manual receipt, this is one of the avenues we believe will help sort out some leakages that are associated with a manual receipt,” he said.

Mr. Okon said the state government would soon convene a tax summit to rub minds with its stakeholders.

He said the summit was aimed to encourage the people to pay their taxes according to their incomes.

“As a state, we intend to ensure that we widen the tax net and also engage the informal sector to ensure that we derive the maximum opportunity that is available in this area.

“With the summit coming up, the issue of poor tax payment will be a thing of the past,” Mr. Okon said.

He noted that the state government would anchor its development on taxes paid by the citizens of the state.

The commissioner said Governor Udom Emmanuel’s administration was doing everything possible for tax system to be efficient and effective in the state.
(NAN)

http://www.ritafamous.com/index.php/2016/03/06/shocking-see-the-new-policy-in-akwa-ibom-state-that-may-affect-other-states-in-nigeria/

nice one..

Okay

Upon all de Oil money and allocation una still dey broke,well not una fault sha,daz wen the Oil in Akwa Ibom belongs to cursed dried sahel desert Sokoto and The Ones in Bayelsa belongs to Jigawa while de ones in Delta/Edo now belongs to Ondo....Nigeria is really scam

Nor be new thing, nor be to talk am be the thing,now to act am, ask my governor Adams Oshiomhole how market?

The next tax will be for bleeping someone whom you
are not married to

Tax fresh air soon.

I like water she
Thank God he no add water

quite sure there was tax before.

*yawns*

Progress2468:
The next tax will be for bleeping someone whom you
are not married to

In that case, I will be an Nnamdi Kanu to Akwa Ibom state govt.

How to get them to bring there own drink to the hotel that's all. Good idea. Drink and develop your state.

They are looking for more money to share.

Pwayne2016:
Upon all de Oil money and allocation una still dey broke,well not una fault sha,daz wen the Oil in Akwa Ibom belongs to cursed dried sahel desert Sokoto and The Ones in Bayelsa belongs to Jigawa while de ones in Delta/Edo now belongs to Ondo....Nigeria is really scam

This guy na Joker, how can you say the Oil in Ondo belongs to Delta. You need to reason with your brain o, since both Delta and Ondo are close to each other then it's only normal some of the oil reserves in Delta will fall into Ondo. When is not like the people of Delta came with Oil from heaven. Oil can form anywhere, oil is been discovered in different parts of the world from time to time.

very stupid policy, soon dem go say pay tax before u marry woman mtcheeew

How are you going to know I drank alcohol?

Good one but unrealistic

It's good to tax pleasure goods to raise revenue for government. It'll also help our people reduce consumption of alcohol as it is detrimental to health.

This is a good one cos it will discourage consumption, improve the living standards of households and might also increase savings or investment.