1.1 INTRODUCTION
Taxation has long been practiced in Nigeria. Initially, only men were expected to pay taxes but now all people working and anybody found in the capacity of paying tax are obliged to pay tax.
Tax is a mandatory levy on income charged for the purpose of carrying out government activities losses incurred by government in recent times through tax evasion are increasing rapidly despite the pathetic financial and economics state of the country. There are daily reports on newspapers and magazines that the government losses billions of naira yearly due to tax evasion and the fraudulent practices of the tax officials. This has been attributed to many factors. Most people attribute this to the fact that the country’s tax system is highly income based and since income is taxed only at one point or stage, a lot of evasion results.
In Nigeria many different goods are consumed. For this reason, tax experts see consumption as the actual liability and as such, the need to shift tax base from income tax to consumption tax. This necessitated the introduction of sales tax in Nigeria through degree No 7 of 1986.
However, it was discovered that tax is narrow because it does not cover a lot of goods and services. This prompted the introduction of value added tax (VAT) in Nigeria
The idea of introducing VAT in Nigeria came from the report of the study group set up by the federal government in 1991 to review the entire tax system. VAT was proposed and a committee was set up to carry out feasibility studies on its implementation. In January 1993, government agreed to introduce VAT through instrumentality of the VAT Degree 102 of 1993. This was meant to be effective from January 1, 1994. It came on stream as a replacement to its antecedent, the sales tax, which was characterized by a lot of lapses inadequacies and restrictive coverage VAT is a consumption tax imposed on all manufactured goods, industrial raw material and other imported into or produced in Nigeria at a single rate of five percent potentially, its dragnet covers virtually everybody, since one consumers one thing or the other expect in the cases of specific items that are example.
Several benefits which the government expected to derive from value added tax (VAT) were enumerated. Among several others they are.
i. Increase in revenue generation.
ii. Facilitation of administrative enforcement
iii. Reduction in revenue losses through tax evasion
iv. Enhancement of documentation of transaction
v. Encouragement of rapid industrial growth by allowing credit for input taxes for capital goods.
Maintenance of neutrality in tax payment since it is broad based and has a single rate.
The government has convened these benefits to the public and has also organized workshops and seminars to educate the producers, suppliers consumer, tax officials and the general public on VAT system in Nigeria. However the perception of tax payers is necessary at this stage and this is what this research is to find out.
LITERATURE REVIEW
INTRODUCTION
In conducting any research work, previously documented materials on the topic must be reviewed. This will guide the researcher when currently existing literature will reveal to the reseach what new ground to break as well as prevent him from duplicating past efforts of other researchers. It is also designed to achieve amongst other thing.
“Reviewing what had been done previously in that problem area thus relieving the researcher of possibility of international replications of previous studies”. (Baridam, 1990: 32)
The literature review can serve as a convicting link between the findings of previous proposed study – Abdellah and Levine 1979: 111). A review is also a critical evaluation of the subject under review and that can be corrected in the new research.
In as much as so much has not been written on this topic, VAT, the research can review other topics, which are also applicable to this one in question. Attempts and efforts will be directed at those areas of relevance o the topic, in other that a clearer person that came in contract with the result of the work. This chapter will therefore show a summary of other literature on value added tax (VAT) and taxation in general.