By Sunny A. David
Government of Anambra State has waived penalties and interests for Pay As You Earn (PAYE) agents and companies in Anambra State as their COVID-19 relief packages.
The Head, PAYE Department, Anambra State Internal Revenue Service (AIRS), Mrs. Chika Obiano said this while addressing newsmen at her office in Awka.
“Governor Willie Obiano in his good heart has approved that penalties and interests should be written off for PAYE agents and companies in Anambra.
“So, right now we are writing off penalties and interests on late submission of returns or on non-compliance with those that pay up before Aug. 31, 2020,” Mrs. Obiano said.
She lamented that COVID-19 pandemic had adversely affected their work.
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“We have so many schools in Anambra that contribute about 30 per cent of our PAYE revenue, and for five months now, they have been out of operation. So it affects us.
“Secondly, people in the hospitality industries like hotels, restaurants, eateries and clubs were not in operation during the lockdown so our revenue was affected by 20 or 30 per cent.”
Mrs. Obiano expressed joy at the work of revenue agents that were recently inaugurated by the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, AIRS, Dr. David Nzekwu.
“There are lots of positive results from the work of Revenue Agents because the total number of PAYE agents and companies in our database increased by more than 200 per cent.
“So, our work now is to fill status companies and know those that are PAYE agents and those that are not. So they have contributed positively to our work,” she said.
The PAYE Head added, “we have more than 70,000 PAYE agents and companies in Anambra and counting.”
Mrs. Obiano, then, appealed to the people to do the right thing as it concerned PAYE.
“We are here to help PAYE agents and companies to do the right thing; pay the right thing and help them to avoid having any issues with the tax authorities.”
