TAXATION AS CITIZENS OBLIGATION IN NIGERIA

For patriots like me, paying taxes gives a feeling of responsibility, of being part of the fabric of our country, of contributing to the common good.

-JOYCE MARCEL, 2006

 

Many times we hear people say things like, “it is our money or tax payer’s money”. Yes public fund is our money, only because we are citizens of Nigeria and Nigeria is blessed with oil through which the revenue is generated. But like Joyce Marcel, how have we made efforts to contribute to the common good of our society?

Citizens and government have basic obligations towards the society for development and stability. While it is the duty of the government to provide infrastructures, security, shelter and other basic amenities for sustainable development, the citizens have the obligation to support government in many ways, one of which is the payment of taxes. Therefore, one of the ways of contributing to the common good of the society is for citizens to exercise their obligation as tax payers. Taxes are used to pool resources for public health and safety, infrastructure, research, schools, transportation, courts, funding the police and providing parks and safe drinking water, amongst others.

Tax as defined by Wikipedia is a pecuniary burden laid upon individuals or property owners to support the government, a payment exacted by legislative authority. A tax is not a voluntary payment or donation, but an enforced contribution, exacted pursuant to legislative authority and comprises any contribution imposed by government whether under the name of toll, tribute, duty, custom, excise, subsidy, aid, supply, or by any other name.

It is the duty of an individual or entity to pay tax as an enforced contribution to government. Thus, tax obligation simply shows how much tax is owed; by the amount of tax that a person, business, or organization owes.

Taxes are obviously regarded as a germane source of revenue in many countries, although a tax may be levied other than reasons of revenue generation depending on the motive of government regarding the economy. Governments use different kinds of taxes and vary the tax rates in order to distribute the tax burden among individuals or entities. A country's tax system is supposedly a reflection of its communal values and/or the values of those in power. Therefore to create a tax system, a country must identify a proper distribution of the tax burden i.e. who will pay taxes, how much they will pay and how the taxes collected will be spent. In democratic nations where those in charge of establishing the tax system are elected by the public, these choices reflect the type of community that the public and/or government wish to create. In countries where the public does not have a significant amount of influence over the system of taxation, that system may be more of a reflection on the values of those in power.

In Nigeria, the tax system dates back to 1904 when the personal income tax was introduced in northern Nigeria. Since then, different governments have continued to modify the tax system to make it effective in Nigeria. The tax law in Nigeria is purely statutory. The system offers a wide range of statutes, some of which include, Personal Income Tax Act, Companies Income Tax Act, Education Tax Act, Industrial Development (Income Tax Relief) Act, Mineral & Mining Act, Petroleum Profits Tax Act, Value Added Tax Act, Sales Tax Laws, Customs and Excise Management Act, Stamp Duties Act as well as the Land Use Act. Generally, the tax system in Nigeria features a combination of direct and indirect taxes and all individuals and entities that earn income, profits or gains have the obligation to pay tax.

The tax system as provided in Decree No. 21, of 1998 (now an Act of the National Assembly) comprises of at least 39 taxes, levies and fees, including 8 Federal, 11 State and 20 Local Government taxes and levies as specified in the Taxes and Levies. The institutions responsible for tax administration in Nigeria include the Federal Inland Revenue Service, State Inland Revenue Service and the Local Government Revenue Committee respectively for the three tiers of government in Nigeria.

Given the above statues and having developed a tax system in Nigeria, we are all obliged to fulfil our tax responsibility. It is only natural to hope that contribution of tax to revenue in Nigeria is meaningful. Tax obligation includes all activities necessary to be carried out by the tax-paying public in order to meet the statutory requirements of tax law. There are four (4) broad categories of obligations likely to exist for all tax payers irrespective of their jurisdiction. These are:

·        registration in the system

·        timely filling or lodgement of requisite taxation information

·        reporting of complete and accurate information (incorporating good record keeping); and

·        payment of taxation obligations on time

In many societies, citizens do not need to be reminded to pay tax as the tax system is such that it forms basic part of citizen’s responsibilities on weekly or monthly basis as the case is in the United Kingdom, United States and Germany for example. In such societies tax payment is performed voluntarily. This is what Rasaq K. O. calls Voluntary Tax Compliance which is a tax system based on taxpayers complying with tax laws without being compelled by the tax authority to do so. Under this system taxpayers are expected to report their income, calculate their tax liability and file a tax return. In Nigeria such a concept may be seen to be alien to the people because of the manner of tax awareness and its effectiveness. Besides, the ambiguity of tax officials also affects adversely the value of tax and its contribution as well as the reason for taxation.

Infact, Nigeria is a complex case. Apart from the fact that tax awareness is low and perhaps limited to people who have need for tax clearance certificates, the basic challenge is the fact that Nigeria has not developed a functional and effective system where citizens could see taxation as part of their monthly obligations to government which if not fulfilled will make it impossible to seek attention from government. In developing and developed societies where the tax system is effective, citizens know that to pay tax is important and forms part of their obligations and through which they can challenge government on its performance on development. In our case here in Nigeria, tax is a source of enrichment to tax officials who exploit the citizens in various capacities and still pose as people helping government to succeed. This writer has on some occasions visited the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) branches in Abuja. On those occasions taxes were negotiated in such a manner that the taxpayer is allowed to pay a certain amount of money to government as basic assessment of his income or business whereas a certain amount is paid to the assessor (tax official). If for example the tax payer is to pay N200, 000, the tax official will request N80, 000 for himself/herself and remit N70, 000 to government. In that case, the taxpayer should have saved N50, 000 out of the money he/she ought to pay. Many Nigerians happily do this, just as the tax officials see nothing wrong with such acts. Yet the FIRS will come up with various slogans such as “PIN Number” etc to give the impression that the institution is working hard. One begins to wonder how many people – institutions and prominent citizens have been prosecuted for evading tax or for manipulating the system. How many staff of the FIRS have been prosecuted or sacked for manipulating the tax system. The question one cannot fail to ask is, why is it difficult for the FIRS to come up with a tax system where there will be a common formula worked out in such a manner that citizens at all levels and categories of businesses know how much they are to pay to government monthly or annually as the case may be. For example, if motorists, plumbers or electricians are categorized as artisans and have a certain rate as tax per annum on their income published in FIRS newsletters/bulletins or on the internet, such a plumber, motorist, electrician or artisan knows what and how much he is to remit as tax per annum. Why should a citizen be the one to go to FIRS to discuss how much he earns before he is assessed to know how much he will pay as tax? This system shows a tax institution or government that is short of its responsibilities. It is because many Nigerians know that their taxes go to private pockets that make many people not to show interest in tax payment. Government has so much work to do to strengthen the tax system in Nigeria.

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) had announced a drop of N124 billion in its tax revenue collection in the first quarter of 2009 - from N477 billion to N353 billion. Having in mind that Nigeria’s budget for 2009 was N3.049tr, if we take N353b as tax revenue for one quarter and we multiply it by four quarters in a year, we imagine tax revenue of approximately N1.4tr in a year. That is close to half of the year’s budget. We can only envisage what it would be if the system was better. The pertinent questions that arise at this point include, where and what is this tax revenue used for? Why do we keep experiencing budget deficits and evolving supplementary budgets year in year out? Is the Nigerian quest for diversifying sources of revenue for funding the budget undermining the tax sector? This and many more will continue to nudge but elude our minds.

Comparatively, countries like the United Kingdom who do no not have natural resources as well as sources of revenue, rely heavily on revenue from tax to provide services to the people. We will all agree that in this country, goods and services are effectively provided. In fact one of the easiest ways to go to jail in developed nations is to evade tax.

Recently, Lagos state took a cue from the United Kingdom as the state government considering the nature and values of its people has fared better in generating internal revenue for the state. Many Lagosians today voluntarily go to pay their taxes because they have seen that government has a system where the taxes get to government and the government uses the money to provide services.  In order to check the exigencies that accompany the tax system in Nigeria, the Lagos state government first of all developed an electronic tax payment and collection (lodgement) scheme suitable for an effective tax system. It is an information network system that links Tax Stations & other Revenue Agencies to lodgement banks. The advantages include increasing the internally generated revenue base of Lagos State, providing easy administration, monitoring and co-ordination of all revenue activities in the state as well as assisting to identify fraudulent debit, diversion of funds and excess charges on the state accounts. Having noticed the popular informal sector of the society, government in this state took the advantage of proper awareness, carrying along representatives of business organizations who take time to pass on tax education to their members. Members of the association are now paying a small amount of tax to the government on a monthly basis. Although it is not much, often just N2, 500 (approximately $16), for many it is the first time in their lives that they have paid any formal tax. Since then, Lagos state has recorded a substantial increase in tax revenue. According to the Governor of the state, Babatunde Fashola, the state's internal generated revenue grew from N600 million monthly to N14 billion monthly since 1999. That is more than double what the state typically receives from the Federation Accounts and is gained from the formal sector.

It is pertinent to note at this point that tax revenue in Nigeria can only be substantial if the tax system promotes an atmosphere of trust, sustained public education, transparency and accountability in governance, enforcement of rules and regulations among the tax officials at all levels, and the provision of dividends of democracy to the people. As citizens of Nigeria it behoves on us to ensure participation in government by paying our taxes and filing our tax returns periodically. This will help reduce the current voter apathy evident in the country, since a contribution to public revenue would induce individuals to pry into the workings of government and allow them to be conscious of those who are going to be elected and made responsible for expending tax contributed revenue.

Consequent upon the above, the National Assembly has the task to evolve and sustain a tax policy and system that guarantee a transparent and effective tax process. The relevant Legislative Committee responsible for oversight on tax authorities must ensure through proper oversight that government is not robbed of its revenue through corrupt tax officials. The Lagos state tax system may serve as a point of reference in eliminating bottlenecks in the tax process through an e-system. Above all, the passage into law of the Freedom of Information bill has now come as a boost in ensuring a transparent and vibrant tax system. It is only when we pay our taxes that we position ourselves better to hold government accountable. But the system of tax payment must be streamlined, strengthened and guarded with strong legislation and regulations to reduce the level of corrupt officials in tax offices nationwide in order to engender confidence of the Nigerian people in the payment of tax. People especially those in business who collaborate with tax officials to manipulate their taxes should be publicly prosecuted to serve as deterrent to others. With a population of over 150 million people, Nigeria can survive with revenue from taxes even without oil revenue. All we need is strong legislations and enforcement.