Anambra State Board of Internal Revenue has asked residents of the state to be prepared to pay heavy taxes next year or be ready to go to jail.

The board said it had procured Black Maria vans and about 21 lawyers to help it to achieve the purpose.

The Chairman of the board, Dr David Nzekwu, disclosed this to journalists in Awka, the Anambra State capital.

He said a new regime of revenue collection would be introduced next year to realise N36bn as approximated in the 2021 fiscal budget.

Nzekwu said there would no longer be a hiding place for tax evaders and every leakage and loophole would be closed to guarantee that all revenues would go directly into government coffers.

He said, “The revenue service has procured three Black Maria vans which would be used to apprehend tax defaulters in custody.

“The Governor, Willie Obiano, has approved the recruitment of 21 lawyers for the Board of Internal Revenue and in 2021, the agency will prosecute a lot of revenue fraudsters in the state.”

He said out of about 1.2 million people trading in the state, only about 7,450 paid taxes.

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