Stakeholders task govt on harmonisation of real estate tax laws

STAKEHOLDERS under the auspices ofthe Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers
(NIESV) have called on the government to harmonise real estate tax laws to enhance assessment, collection and utilisation of revenue thereof.

According to the estate surveyors and valuers, uncoordinated real estate tax policies and non-enforcement
of existing tax laws is one of the issues militating against unlocking real estate’s potentials for economic development in Nigeria.

The estate surveyors stated this in the communiqué issued at the end of their 51st Annual Conference entitled, ”Unlocking Real Estate Potentials for Economic Development” held in Abuja.

The elaborate conference was declared open by the Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osibanjo, who
was represented by the Minister of State, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing,

Mr Abubakar D. Aliyu, The experts emphasised that the time to unlock real estate’s potentials for economic development is now, considering the general economic downturn occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, the operation of a mono-economy, corruption, insecurity and other factors that adversely impact the economy.

According to them, it’s time how come to mobilise funds for real estate development, saying this would
enable quick recovery of the economy from the downturn occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“All hands should be on deck to intensify action for the implementation of the government’s policies and framework for the diversification of the economy. In addition, the orientation of all and sundry to curb corruption at all levels, particularly as it relates to the real estate sector,” the communique read.

Other challenges confronting the sector, they said included insufficient real estate data, difficulties in land acquisition processes; inability to activate enormous dead capital inherent in real estate resources due to low level of land titlingand limited real estate financing; the dearth of workmen with specialized technical skills in the sector and non-continuity in public policy’s implementation.

Insufficient real estate data, the experts noted, had led to the wrong classification of the sector’s contribution to the economy.

The stakeholders called for conscious efforts by NIESV and the government to set the machinery in motion for the establishment of effective and up-to-date databank to be easily accessed for research and development of the sector
Besides, they urged the government to digitalise land registries in the states and Local Government Areas to shorten land’s acquisition processes.

The digitalisation of land registries across the states, estate surveyors and valuers said, would invariably
eradicate the bureaucratic processes evident inland acquisition.

The experts canvassed the need to expunge the Land Use Act from the Nigeria Constitution (1999) to enable ease of amendment and smooth operation.

They said “Land titling has been discovered as a sine-qua-non in releasing the potentials in real estate.

Therefore, there is an urgent need to title all land in Nigeria, particularly in the rural areas, to make them bankable and unleash their potential for raise.

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