Socio-legal approaches to the enforcement of tax compliance in Nigeria

Abstract

This article is about the negative attitude to compliance in Nigeria and how  to resuscitate it. Nigeria has a very low rate of tax compliance. One of the  causes of this is over dependence on revenue from oil and other related factors. With the decline in oil revenue, it has become imperative for  government to harness the tax sector in other to meet its obligations to the people. Lots of initiatives, which include taxpayer education programs, tax enforcement strategies, and increasingly sophisticated systems of tax administration using new technologies, have been taken by government to enforcing tax compliance. However, the Nigerian citizens are not responsive to tax compliance. The deterrent tax measures have not yielded the anticipated results. This paper seek to propagate policy measures that could entrench voluntary tax compliance in Nigerian tax system. The research was theoretically based; accordingly, reliance was placed on the study of both primary and secondary sources of law like the Constitution, Federal and State enactments, text books, journals, newspapers and internet base materials respectively. The study would help government  improvise ways to incentivize voluntary tax compliance as application of force would achieve very little results. It was found that the existing  deterrent tax measures have not helped to promote tax compliance in the country. It was also observed that policies like review of existing tax laws to purge the system of multiple taxation, accountability of tax funds and justiciability of tax payers right will enhance tax compliance.