Complicated Tax Law as an Impediment to Domestic Resource Mobilization in Nigeria

Abstract

The following article examines how the convolution of the tax laws upon which the tax system depends can be an impediment to effective resource mobilisation in Nigeria. It focuses on the influences of the prevailing socio-economic conditions on the taxpayer's likelihood to comply with tax laws which they hardly understand. Taxpayers are portrayed as being more of victims of an opaque tax system than intentionally bent on defaulting and evading their civic responsibilities. A key contributor to the complexity of the tax system is the ambiguity emanating from a duplication of roles and the competing interests of agencies working at cross purposes to each other. These complications in the tax system eventually constitute loopholes for other losses such as capital flights and profit shifting. Initiatives aimed at demystifying the process of tax collection were lauded as viable future directions to stem the tide of suboptimal resource mobilisation in Nigeria.