Tax Revenue Effort in Nigeria

Abstract

Today, countries, especially the developing ones rebase their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to determine their economic strength. Nigeria as an acclaimed giant in Africa cannot but continuously examine variables which may impact the economy. It is in this light that this study was intended to investigate the Determinants of Tax Revenue Effort in Nigeria. To achieve this, secondary data, as time series data, covering a period of 1980 to 2015, were used and sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin, Annual Abstract from the Office of the National Bureau of Statistics and the Federal Inland Revenue Service, both in Nigeria. The dependent variable of Tax Revenue Effort (TTAXeff) was regressed on macro independent variables of Agricultural Sector Productivity(AGRICSP), Manufacturing Sector Productivity (MANSP), Tourism Sector Productivity(TOURSP), Telecommunication Sector Productivity(TELCOMSP), Capital Flight(CAPFR), Trade Openness (TOPEN) and Human Capital Development(HCD). The study adopted a longitudinal research design and used the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) technique to evaluate the models. The findings revealed that Agricultural Sector Productivity, Tourism Sector Productivity, Trade Openness and Human Capital Development had significant and positive effects on Tax Revenue Effort in Nigeria. The Manufacturing Sector Productivity, Telecommunication Sector Productivity and Capital Flight had significant but negative effects on Tax Revenue Effort in Nigeria. There is however the need to consistently ensure better performance of tax efforts in the country through strict and meticulous enforcement of tax rules and tax administrations procedures in the country.