IN QUEST OF EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE TAX ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT IN NIGERIA

This study evaluates the present Nigerian tax administration and management, and assesses its economic impact. The current system of tax administration and management in Nigeria is a carry-over from the British colonial tax structure, an inadequate legacy from the days of British colonial rule in Nigeria. It lacks coordination and tools adequate for the implementation and enforcement of the tax laws.;This study analyzes the role effective tax administration and management in a developing economy could play as a tool of fiscal policy. The basic question is whether evolvement of effective tax administration and management could bring about innovative changes devoid of the utilization of alien economic tools that are inoperative in a development economy in post independent Nigeria; deter the over dependence on the oil revenue for national development planning; and enhance the use of taxation consonant with recognized canons as fiscal policy tools. The methods and approach employed in the study are historical, evaluative, and analytical, retrospecting on the British tax administration in Nigeria and considering factors that impinge on, affect and deter efficient and effective tax administration and management.;The finding of the dissertation is that tax evasion is very high in Nigeria; the rate of voluntary compliance is below minimum as a result of inefficient administration and poor managment, thus precipitating a substantial loss in millions of Naira. Nigeria needs a constructive reform in her tax administration machinery to foster greater revenue generation, minimize tax evasion and invigorate voluntary compliance of the tax laws by all citizens. To achieve this, there should be an immediate establishment of the national identification system, in conjunction with a data base information center.;Although Nigeria is among the fastest developing nation in the so called Third World, the oil boom of the mid-seventies had made the Nigerian administration myopic about the need to re-assess its tax administration and management, the restructuring of its operating machinery to provide effective control, administration, verification, implementation and enforcement. The deliberate neglect of the Nigerian tax administration and management has lost revenue in millions of Naira, and has undoubtedly augmented the high rate of inflation in the economy.