AN IN-DEPTH EVALUATION OF TAX AS A VERITABLE FISCAL TOOL FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The crux of the present article is to evaluate the impact of tax as a veritable fiscal stimulus for ignition of economic growth in Nigeria. The article examines, in the main, the objectives and functions of tax, by highlighting the imperatives of a good tax system for Nigeria. To prosecute the current assignment, the present article focuses on four aspects of tax, namely; petroleum profit tax, companies income tax, personal income tax, and also, value added tax, in evaluating the impact of tax in Nigeria. The article adopts doctrinal research method in the present study. Also, the article relies on primary and secondary data in the execution of the present task. The article, in its bid to arrive at a firm view of the relevance of tax in the nation’s economy, adopted a comparative study of tax developments in some foreign jurisdictions, namely; Ghana, India and lastly, the United Kingdom. The article contends that, whereas tax is envisioned to play a significant impact in the economic growth of any given nation, its impact, however, appears short of the envisaged optimal level in terms of the current volume of economic activities together with its corresponding value of total output in Nigeria. Also, the article shall examine the philosophy behind the current Finance Bill 2019 as presented by the Buhari-led government, which has just been passed into law, and also assented to by the President. The article therefore concludes that Nigeria appears to lag behind most other nations by abandoning her quantum of untapped non-oil driven revenue potentials for enhanced economic growth. The article therefore recommends that, government shall institute an appropriate tax system with an emphasis on broadening the tax base. Also, the article further calls on the government to justify its imposition of tax on the citizenry through provision of utility goods and services for the generality