Lagos State Government reduces Land Use Charge

The Lagos State Government has announced the reduction of the Land Use Charge.

The charge had encountered severe criticism, with several residents of the state complaining about receiving bills amounting to hundreds of thousands.

The Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) had criticised the charge, asking that the government conduct valuations on properties in the state.

EiE Nigeria had also staged a protest, along with lawyers in the state, asking that the charge be reversed.

The Lagos State Government announced on their social media accounts that the charge has been reduced.

With the new charge, commercial properties will get a 50% reduction; properties both occupied by an owner and used commercially, and those used for industrial purposes, will receive a 25% reduction; while exclusively owner-occupied properties will receive a 15% reduction, the government said.

Commercial Property: Commercial Property Owner, who are undoubtedly the stakeholders mostly impacted by this amended Law will be granted 50% discount. This means a commercial property valued at N20M which was earlier billed N91,200.00 will now pay N45,600.00 per annum.

Property Occupied by Owner and Third Party & Property Used for Industrial and Manufacturing Purposes: These categories of property will enjoy 25% discount. This means that a N20Million property expected to pay N30,720 will now pay N23,040 per annum.

Owner-occupied Property: This category of property will enjoy 15% discount. For a N20 Million property, this used to be N9,120 now, it is N7,752 per annum.

The penalty regime for late payment of LUC has been waived completely. Therefore, LUC payers who have received their bills will no longer be penalized for late payment of bills issued in 2018, thereby providing additional relief to LUC payers.

Other rates and reliefs,apart from the ones stated above remain unchanged & will be implemented as stipulated by Law. These include 40% general relief, 10% for 70 years and above, 105 for properties owned by persons living with disability and 10% for properties that are 25yrs.

Owners of Property across all categories will now be allowed to make payments by installments. This will help to reduce the burden of taxation on our citizens..

Those who have paid the original amount will be awarded tax credits to the extent of the excess amount paid and carried forward to next year. This is due the faithfulness displayed by performing their civic duties by paying the LUC.