Tax Evasion and Its Consequences on an Emerging Economy: Nigeria as a Focus

Abstract

There is a universal understanding that tax evasion is a product of underground economy, however, the two economic scenarios have dissimilar influences on an economy. The effects of tax evasion and underground economy have been examined in this study, in order to establish a statistical evidence of the varying consequences of the two economic circumstances. The study employs secondary form of data ranging from 1991 to 2018 while using ordinary least squares multiple regression technique for the analysis. The findings reveal that tax evasion has a robust significant negative influence on economic growth while underground economy is having a strong and positive significant impact on economic growth of Nigeria. The two independent variables are found to be having very strong relationship with economic growth and are also determining 98.7% of the variation in the Nominal Gross Domestic Product. In the light of these findings, it is obvious that informal economy and tax evasion have become an integral part of Nigeria’s economy doing both harm and good substantially. Therefore, the study recommends more effort on the part of the government to encourage good leadership, formulate policies that will enhance voluntary tax compliance and help the informal sector businesses that are legitimate to become officially registered with little or no cost.