The Lagos State Government could begin taxing religious centers if the Land Use Charge review, which has reportedly passed second reading at the state plenary, is passed into law, New Telegraph reports.
The house speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, said the law is intended to generate revenue for the state.
The law, tagged “A Bill for A Law To Repeal The Land Use Charge Law 2001 and Enact Land Use Charge 2017 and For Connected Purposes” has reportedly been committed to the House Ad-hoc Committee on Finance headed by Honorable Yinka Ogundimu.
Obasa decried the current situation of a few collectors working with the state to collect the Land Use Charge, saying more are need for the state to be completely covered. He said:
We need more consultants to do the job so that the entire state could be covered in the collection of land use charge. Whatever tribunal that would be set up to deal with offenders should have the support of the government.
He added that while Non-Government Organizations may be exempted from the bill, religious organizations will not “because most of the worship centres are making money.”