The re-enactment of the Lagos State Land Use Charge to Law replace the one enacted in 2001, was greeted with strident public outcry obviously due to misunderstanding of its provisions.
However, a detailed look at the Land Use Charge, LUC, Law (2018), which is the state government’s property tax, indicates that it is a consolidation of ground rent, tenement rate, and neighbourhood improvement levy.
According to state government officials, it is an annual charge rate expressed as a percentage of the assessed market value of the property and empowers the state government to vary between owner-occupied property and other property as well as residential property and commercial or revenue generating property.
This variation further includes property for physically-challenged persons and those who have been resident at the same location for at least 12 years, minors; retiree owners of property and occupiers on the one hand, and active owners and occupiers on the other. According to the Law, the annual charge rate to be applied to eligible property in Lagos State shall be as follows: owner-occupied residential property – 0.076 per cent per annum of the assessed property value, and owner-occupied pensioner’s property.
Exempted from from the Law are the state owned property, while chargeable property include industrial premises of manufacturing concerns at the rate of 0.256 per cent per annum of the assessed property value, residential property (owner and third party) at the rate of 0.256 per cent per annum of the assessed property value, residential property (without owner in residence) at the rate of 0.76 per cent per annum of the assessed property value, commercial property (used by occupier for business purposes) at the rate of 0.76 per cent per annum of the assessed property value and vacant property and open empty land at the rate of 0.76 per cent per annum of the assessed property value. Read more