From Nigeria: Property Taxation in Lagos State: A Review of the Lagos State Land Use Charge Law 2018

Olaleye Adebiyi - Andersen LP in Nigeria, a member firm of Andersen Global

Property taxation as a source of government revenue in Nigeria and other countries is not novel. In Nigeria, property taxes include Neighborhood Improvement Charges, Tenement Rates and Ground Rent. In Lagos State, these taxes have been consolidated into the Land Use Charge (LUC).

The LUC was first introduced by the Land Use Charge Law of Lagos State (LUCL or the law) in 2001 but was recently replaced by a new LUCL which was enacted on February 8, 2018, with an upward review of the LUC rates. The LUC takes effect from the date of enactment. According to the State Government, the review became critical because of the huge infrastructure deficit in the State as well as the need for an increase in internally generated revenue.

The recent re-enactment of the LUCL has encountered stiff resistance from affected stakeholders. Apart from the increase in rates, other reasons for the resistance include the validity of the delegation of powers by the Local Government to the State and the discriminatory rates applied to owner-occupiers versus tenants of residential premises. Some of the concerns raised are being considered as the Lagos State House of Assembly is working on a Bill to amend the LUCL (i.e. LUCL Amendment Bill) which was subjected to a Public Hearing on March 27, 2018.

Although the rates in the LUCL have now been reviewed, stakeholder dissatisfactions still linger, particularly in relation to the issue of accountability on the use of funds. In spite of the imposition of taxes, residents of Lagos State maintain that they still have to provide basic social infrastructure such as electricity, security and waste management for themselves.

We have examined some of the provisions of the new LUCL, the practice in other jurisdictions and the potential implications for taxpayers in this volume of our newsletter.

Please click here to read the full article.​