The Rivers state Internal Revenue Service (RIRS) has unveiled a new tax for the informal sector, promising to be fair in its collection.
The RIRS chairman, Mr Adoage Norteh, stated this at a news briefing in Port Harcourt Monday.
The chairman said members of the public would begin to pay for every space they would use aside from their stores, offices and business spaces.
“If you want to put up a business in any corner of the state, we may not ask you not to do so, but we will ask you to pay a fee because that space belongs to everybody in the state.
“We want to face those informal people whose addresses are not known, those who are selling by the roadsides and earn income.
“For instance, the taxi people on the streets that make traffic flow difficult, the street sellers among others,” he said.
Norteh stated that the aim was to develop the state.
The chairman said the agency did not engage in multiple taxes.
“There is a lot of noise about multiple taxes, we don’t engage in it. It has been a thing of the past since we came on board, and we insist that people will not be harassed provided they do the right thing,” he said.
(NAN)