By Chimezie Anaso
The Anambra Internal Revenue Service (AIRS) on Friday confirmed that the demand direct tax notices sent to Anambra indigenes and residents through text messages originated from the Service.
Mrs Sylvia Uzoma Ngige, the Head, Public Relations Unit, Personal Income Tax (PTI), Anambra Internal Revenue Service (AIRS), made the confirmation to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka.
She said the charges are statutory obligations of earning citizens to the government.
Ngige said it was a direct tax charged on the income of a person and what was payable is dependent on the amount of income which the person earns from economic activities.
She said those who got the messages and claimed they lived outside Anambra should go to the online portal of the Service and file returns.
“According to law, the government may impose tax on PIT of an individual and entity, and a development levy which is a flat charge imposed on every taxable person typically within a State.
“In the case of those living outside Anambra, they must have obtained Anambra State Social Identity number (ANSSID) now Anambra State Identity Number (ASIN) and made a transaction with Anambra Government.
“ASIN is the citizens’ tax identification with the state, since he claimed he lives in Lagos and does business there, expectation is that he should file a return and pay to Lagos State government.
“They should also file a return to the Anambra government with evidence to prove that they declared all income in their states of residence and are not supposed to pay PIT to the Anambra government,” she said.
NAN reports that the text messages read: “Dear …, you are in default of remitting N175,117.34 as Personal Income Tax for 2021 to ANSG. Pay now to avoid further penalties. www.anambra.tax.”
It reports that AIRS says the state government has an outstanding bill of N513.9 billion payable by about 2.1 million taxpayers as at January 2022.
This amount is captured in AIRS database under the Anambra Social Service Identity (ANSSID) number.
However, some indigenes and residents of Anambra have since decried the text messages and indiscriminate distribution of tax demand notices by AIRS.
They wondered how AIRS arrived at the sum for everyone in spite of the differences in their earnings.
They added that the same text messages was sent to even pensioners and some Anambra indigenes residing outside the state asking for the same amount as tax. (NAN)
