AN ANALYTICAL REVIEW OF THE EXTANT TAX LAWS ON RESOLUTION OF BUSINESS TAX DISPUTE IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Taxes are vital tools for development and governance of any country. By paying taxes, citizens contribute to building sovereign states and the governments use these revenues responsibly to meet their objectives in providing essential public service to all citizens. Thus, the current paper examines how this civic responsibility is observed in a business climate in respect to the extant tax laws on resolution of business dispute or conflict. Business tax disputes in Nigeria are primarily resolved by the Courts and the Tax Appeal Tribunal (TAT). The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Taxes and Levies Act provide for the assessment and collection of taxes by the federal, states and local governments. Thus, the jurisdiction of the courts over business tax dispute derives from whether the taxes are federal, state and local government taxes. The present paper therefore is an academic contribution to firstly examine the functionality of the extant business tax laws whilst propagating reforms to embrace current agitations and demands. The paper adopted doctrinal methodology using expository and analytical approaches. It was the findings of the paper that the TAT has continued to generate some constitutional crisis considered inherent in its enabling statutory provisions. In the same vein, the operations of the Value Added Tax (VAT) have been resisted by some states since its inception with the ongoing VAT ‘war’ being considered as the crescendo. Equally, the outcome of the study has further painted a gloomy picture of operators of business who complained of multiplicity of taxes, levies and dues as constituting a serious challenge to them. In that light, the paper therefore advocated a redesigning of the current VAT structure, and also an amendment of the contentious provisions inherent in the TAT Act to embrace current challenges, aspirations and demands. Also, an urgent review of the business tax laws was propagated to eradicate the burden of multiplicity of taxes on the business community.