Only 500,000 people pay tax in Kaduna, says Accountant General

“Many recognised offices will soon be closed down over (alleged) tax evasion,” the commissioner said.

The Kaduna State Accountant General, Ishaku Shekari, said on Monday that only 500,000 out of the six million taxable residents in the state pay their taxes.

Mr. Shekari said this in an interview the News Agency of Nigeria in Kaduna.

He said that the state government would soon carry out biometric registration of all taxable persons to check tax evasion.

“Many recognised offices will soon be closed down over (alleged) tax evasion.

“Biometrics registration of all taxable persons in Kaduna State, including civil servants, will soon be conducted.

“This is in line with the state government efforts to enhance revenue generation of the state to ensure efficient service delivery.”

On the issue of ghost workers, Mr. Shekari said that some disengaged staff were still on the government payroll.

The accountant general said that from the verification exercise conducted in 2013, the state still had a large number of disengaged workers on it payroll.

He said his ministry was working with other ministries, departments and agencies to ensure the disengaged staff were removed from the payroll.

“I do not have any power to remove a single name from the government payroll unless a directive is given to me to that effect,” he said.

(NAN)