Why Taxes Are Not Properly Collected In Nigeria

Lack of adequate public enlightenment and awareness on the significance of tax payments have been identified as the major problems militating against rapid economic development of the country.


The chairman Bauchi State Board of Internal Revenue, Alhaji Muazu Usman, made this observation while delivering a lecture titled “Taxation As a Tool for Development: Roles of Public Relations Practitioners” at the annual general meeting of the Bauchi State chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) held in Bauchi.

He noted that all the economically buoyant nations have developed as a result of the payment of taxes by companies, business organisations and individuals, pointing out that if Nigerians understand fully the benefits of paying taxes, the country would generate a lot of revenues that could be invested in development projects.

Usman who also enumerated weak enforcement of the tax laws by governments, inadequate data, manual processes, large informal sector and tax evasion among other problems of taxation in the country, called for harmonisation of collectible rates and levies charged by governments. He advocated for the development of a robust data base of all tax payers and automation of tax authorities in order to instill efficiency in registration of tax payers, assessment of tax liability, collection and accounting.

“The Bauchi State Revenue Board has already automated vehicle registration and revenue collection in the state and all other processes would be fully automated by December 2013 through the board’s integrated tax administration solution’’, he said.