A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE JURISDICTION OF TAX APPEAL TRIBUNAL: THE IMPERATIVE FOR REFORMS

Abstract

The Nigerian Tax Appeal Tribunal was constituted and formally inaugurated Feb. 4, 2010. Before the establishment of the Tax Appeal Tribunal in 2007 by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Establishment Act 2007, there were other adjudicating bodies on tax-related issues within the Nigeria tax system. But the impact was little when compared with the level of confidence reposed in the bodies by stakeholders, especially the taxpayers. These bodies were the Body of Appeal Commissioners and the Value Added Tax Tribunal. Section 53(1) of Company Income Tax Act (CITA) 1990 empowers the Minister of Finance to establish by notice in the Federal Gazette, a Body of Appeal Commissioners and the Value Added Tax Tribunal, which have been replaced by the Tax Appeal Tribunal (T.A.T). The current position seems to have done away with the state Body of Appeal Commissioners. A national tribunal (divided into zones) is now vested with the power to determine dispute arising from all federal tax legislations. This paper thus examines structural and procedural steps employed by the Tax Appeal Tribunal in the discharge of its statutory duties and the need to widen the jurisdiction of the Tax Appeal Tribunal.