TAX EVASION AND GOVERNMENT REVENUE IN NIGERIA

Abstract The study examined the relationship between tax revenue and economic growth in Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive and historical research design; secondary data for twenty-two years (1996 -2023) were collected from various issues of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) statistical bulletin and annual reports. Tax revenue as an independent variable was measured with Value Added Tax (VAT); Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT); Company Income Tax (CIT) and Custom and Excise Duties (CED) while the dependent variable was Economic Growth (EG) proxied by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Analysis was performed on data collected using Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Regression and other post estimations (Jarque-Bera test; Breusch-Godfrey LM and Ramsey Reset Test) to determine the existence of relationship between the variables. The results of the study showed that VAT and CED had a significant relationships with economic growth. The study concluded that the role of taxation in nation’s building is irreplaceable. Taxation remains a strong socio political and economic tool for economic prosperity. It is therefore recommended that government should engage in a complete re-organization of tax administrative machinery to reduce incidence of tax evasion and avoidance to the barest minimum in order to improve tax revenue and bring more people and establishments into the tax net. Also, tax revenue should be judiciously utilized to provide enabling environment for business survival and economic growth in Nigeria