Tax Reform in Nigeria: Unrealized Expectations

Abstract

Following the introduction of VAT in 1994, the Nigerian government embarked on comprehensive reforms of the tax laws, with policy changes that favoured consumption-based taxes as opposed to income-based ones. The article discusses these reforms and policy changes and, in reviewing the subsequent performance of the conventional taxes, concludes that – contrary to expectations – revenue from these taxes did not rise in relation to that from petroleum profits tax.