Abia Govt Clarifies Tax Reforms, Says No Increase in PAYE, Land or Vehicle Taxes.

Abia Govt Clarifies Tax Reforms, Says No Increase in PAYE, Land or Vehicle Taxes.

The Abia State Government has clarified that its ongoing tax administration reforms are not an increase in taxes, but measures aimed at improving transparency, accountability, revenue collection and the ease of doing business in the state.

The clarification was made by the Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, on Monday, August 17, 2026, at Government House, Umuahia, while briefing journalists on the outcome of the State Executive Council meeting presided over by Governor Alex Otti.

Kanu said the reforms were designed to make tax administration more transparent, traceable, auditable, automated and taxpayer-friendly, while eliminating 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,” the Commissioner stated.

He 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 were properly accounted for and remitted to government.

The Commissioner also stated that there had been no increase in Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE), land or vehicle taxes, stressing that the Abia State Board of Internal Revenue lacked the authority to unilaterally alter tax rates.

On Tax Clearance Certificates (TCC), Kanu said the process was being implemented in line with existing tax laws and the new national tax framework, which requires proper assessment of taxpayers’ income rather than the previous practice of paying a flat amount without adequate assessment.

He stressed that the government was not seeking to arbitrarily tax every payment or inflow into a taxpayer’s bank account, but would determine through lawful assessment and verification which transactions constituted taxable income.

Also speaking, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Internally Generated Revenue, Dr. Emmanuel Okpechi, said the reforms were intended to promote transparency on both sides of the tax administration process.

He said taxpayers were expected to declare their income honestly, while government would ensure that no citizen was taxed beyond what the law provides.

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

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

Okpechi described the measure as an innovation aimed at improving the ease of doing business and reducing unnecessary encounters between businesses and multiple revenue-collecting agencies.

“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 stated.

The Executive Chairman of the Abia State Board of Internal Revenue, Mr. Uche Elekwachi, also dismissed claims of tax increases, saying the Board was only enforcing existing tax laws and introducing systems to improve compliance and block revenue leakages.

Elekwachi reiterated that tax rates could only be changed through legislation and that the Board had no power to increase them unilaterally.

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

He explained that the government had consolidated various payments into an integrated system so that once a taxpayer had made the required payment, the individual or business would not be subjected to additional demands for the same obligations.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Ctz. Ukoha Njoku Ukoha, said the clarification became necessary against the backdrop of recent statements credited to some opposition figures concerning the state’s tax reforms.

He said the new tax system had harmonised various payments, including stallage, ASEPA fees and other government charges.

According to him, the objective was to consolidate the payments so that taxpayers could make their obligations through a coordinated system rather than being approached separately by different government agencies.

The Abia Government urged residents and business owners to disregard claims of arbitrary tax increases, maintaining that the reforms were focused on strengthening the state’s revenue system, plugging leakages, eliminating multiple collections and ensuring that taxpayers paid only what was legally required.