The Katsina State government says the introduction of development levy and cattle tax in the state was aimed at restoring lasting security and economic prosperity in the state.
The State Commissioner of Budget and Economic Planning, Alhaji Faruk Jobe stated this in an interview with newsmen in Katsina following the announcement of the introduction of the new policies.
The state government had announced after this week’s Executive Council meeting that each adult from eighteen years and above will be required to pay an annual development levy of N2,000 while every cattle owner will pay an annual tax of N500 per cow.
Married women will however be exempted from paying the development levy while working class women will be required to pay the new tax.
The Commissioner pointed out that cattle tax has always been part of the administrative policy of Katsina Emirate and Katsina Province right from precolonial times until it was abolished in 1979 for political reasons.
He said aside boosting the state’s revenue base, the new tax policy will enable the state government to know the occupation and income of each resident in any part of the state which will make it easier to track persons with suspicious sources of income.
Jobe explained that the state government will compile the biometric record of all persons resident in the state before the new tax policy comes into effect.
Meanwhile the Katsina State Executive Council says it will forward an executive bill for the Introduction of Development Levy and Cattle Tax to the state House of Assembly to give the policy legal backing.
Our Correspondent reports that people of the state have expressed mixed reactions over the introduction of the newly-proposed tax policy.
Isma’il Adamu