Widening the tax net: Lessons from Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

Pressure is on governments all over the world to increase revenue through taxation in order to provide better services within their jurisdictions. This study attempts to access the Lagos state‘s revenue performance under the internally generated revenue scheme. Lagos state total revenue data was collected from 2009 to 2013 in addition to 65 copies of questionnaire applied on tax payers in Lagos state. The valid questionnaires (54) were analysed using chi-square statistics while the secondary data collected were analysed through error correction model regression. It was found that Lagos state internally generated revenue has increased substantially between 2009 and 2013. However, there are still rooms for improvements. Fines and fees, licences, earnings and sales, and rent on Government property are all revenue items that impacted greatly on the total internally generated revenue. It is recommended that the sources of revenue that are significant such as taxes, licences, fines and fees, grants, finance aids and loans should be reconstructed and re-engineered through public awareness, through keeping accurate data and methodical manner of collection.

Keywords: Internally generated revenue: Revenue collection: Tax net, Tax avoidance, Tax evasion