Nigerian Tax Research Network (NTRN)
Discover the NTRN Library here: www.eldis.org/ntrn
The NTRN is dedicated to enhancing the generation and exchange of tax knowledge in Nigeria. It is concerned with all topics related to taxation, ranging from tax policy to tax administration, and from academic papers to practical case studies. Stakeholders include tax practitioners and researchers from Nigerian and international institutions, as well as donors and civil society organisation working on tax issues in Nigerian.
The main objectives of the NTRN are to:
- Provide a platform for knowledge exchange and evidence-based debate on tax issues, through workshops, conferences, and publications.
- Support the production of high-quality, policy-relevant research, especially that led and undertaken by Nigerian researchers, by providing funding and capacity development.
- Facilitate coordination and complementarity between existing projects and actors active in the area of taxation in Nigeria.
The NTRN is funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and coordinated by the International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD) in collaboration with the Federal Inland Revenue Service.
The Chair of the NTRN is Mrs Ifueko M. Omoigui Okauru. The Research Coordinator is Dr Olly Owen and the Network Coordinator is Michael Falade.
The NTRN was formally launched on 12-14th of September at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja. The ICTD has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Federal Inland Revenue Service, which includes cooperation on the NTRN.
Connect with NTRN
News and Events:
The ICTD is delighted to have hosted Ronald Waiswa and Michael Falade as Visiting Fellows at the Institute of Development Studies. Ronald Waiswa is a Research and Policy Analysis Supervisor at the Uganda Revenue Authority and has previously collaborated with the ICTD on ground-breaking research on taxing wealthy individuals and public sector agencies in Uganda….
Publications:
An important part of every country’s development process is the building of a social contract in which citizens pay tax and, in turn, receive public goods and services. Evidence suggests that this is associated with the establishment of a norm of tax payment and a belief that non-payment is wrong. We exploit a new, nationally…
The importance of tenure security for development and wellbeing is often reduced to questions about how titles can guarantee rights, overlooking the contested and layered nature of property rights themselves. We use the case of Lagos to analyse property rights as ‘analogue’ rather than ‘digital’ in nature – things that only exist by degree, where…
The advent of digitalised business models has considerable potential to improve trade in Africa, however, it has greatly exacerbated the two central challenges of international tax. The first challenge is the definition of taxable presence, and the second is the allocation of business profits of multinational enterprises (MNEs) among the different jurisdictions where they operate….
Fuel subsidies in Nigeria are enormous. At last estimate, the state subsidises gasoline to the tune of USD 3.9 billion — almost double the entire health budget. Subsidies exist because the government fixes the price of gasoline for consumers below the international price and uses government resources to pay for the difference. They were first…
This study explores how small business owners talk about their tax responsibility, especially in non-enabling institutional contexts. It identifies two main types of tax responsibility discourses amongst these business owners: (1) duty-based and (2) rights-based. The duty-based talks see taxation primarily as the citizens’ responsibility to governments, which should always be fulfilled unconditionally, while rights-based…
Fuel subsidies in Nigeria are enormous. At last estimate, the state subsidises petrol to the tune of US$3.9 billion – almost double the entire health budget. Such subsidies come at great cost: the opportunity costs of such spending on other development objectives are large; the distribution of resources to the state governments is reduced; the…
This study explores how small business owners talk about their tax responsibility, especially in non-enabling institutional contexts. It identifies two main types of tax responsibility discourses amongst these business owners: (1) duty-based and (2) rights-based. The duty-based talks see taxation primarily as the citizens’ responsibility to governments, which should always be fulfilled unconditionally, while rights-based…
While there is much speculation about Nigeria’s probably post-oil future, it is in fact already a present reality: In 2015, for the first time since 1971, Nigeria’s public finances had already earned more from non-oil sources than from oil revenues. The transformation to a post-oil future is already in the past.
This paper examines the potential for changes in the tobacco tax to contribute to raising government revenues, reducing tobacco use, and improving public health in Nigeria. Specifically, it estimates the impact of a change in the excise tax structure and level on cigarette consumption, government revenue, smoking prevalence, net-of-tax (NOT) revenue, and the excise tax…
This paper explores how tax collection is experienced differently by female and male market traders in two Nigerian states. Based on a survey of 451 market traders in 12 markets and ethnographic research in four markets, two main findings emerged from the study – the benefits of having female tax collectors to reduce incidences of…
Blogs:
Recurrent episodes of marginal communities being evicted from the waterfronts of Lagos have made global media headlines over the last four years. Up until 2016, the city had earned a hard-won status as a model of good urban governance for Africa. Along with better transport systems, waste management and security, the Lagos state government had re-established control over planning and…
Cigarette sales in most African countries are going up all the time. But smoking rates are much lower than in high-income countries. Because of these comparatively lower smoking prevalence rates – combined with the urgent need to address infectious diseases – tobacco control policies have largely not been prioritised. Nigeria is a case in point. Preventing smoking rates…
The government of Kaduna State, Nigeria, has been working to increase tax collection by broadening the tax base, investing in technology and modernisation, and implementing large-scale policy and administrative reform. These efforts have substantially improved the business environment and increased revenue collection. Yet, there is still significant room to boost voluntary tax compliance. At the…
Research Projects:
In this project, we aim to investigate the role ethnicity plays in shaping attitudes toward taxation and the state. In particular, does ethnicity or other vendor-specific attributes attenuate (or reinforce) the effect of improved information on formal tax compliance and pro-tax attitudes? The proposed qualitative research builds upon and is informed by novel findings that…
This study seeks to contribute to the scant literature on the impact of prices on smoking onset and cessation in LMICs by investigating the following research questions, with a focus on Nigeria: What is the impact of cigarette prices on smoking onset? What is the impact of cigarette prices on smoking cessation? The study is…
How do government actions toward the poor influence other citizens’ perceptions of the government? Does making citizens aware of forced evictions – used by the government in the name of development – reduce their willingness to invest in the capacity of the government by paying taxes? We seek to build upon our 2018 pilot survey…
The proposed research will answer three research questions: (1) Do regions that have historically received more tax revenue have better tax morale? (2) What type of tax allocation in the form of public service provision increases tax morale? (3) Can oil producing regions turn the use of revenue from the 13% fund into higher tax…
Domestic revenue mobilization is a priority for many SSA countries. Yet, low tax compliance constitutes a major challenge to this drive. Improving tax compliance will require an understanding of the underlying factors influencing a taxpayer’s decision to either pay taxes or not. However, little is known about tax compliance behaviour in most SSA countries; insights…
One of the foremost challenges to state-building in weak states is the collection of sufficient revenue for the government to supply public goods. If weak states seek to expand the size of their tax base and the overall revenue collected, can improved information or other appeals boost pro-tax attitudes and formal tax compliance? This project…
This project aims to understand what Nigerians think about fuel subsidies and their attitudes towards their reform, reduction or removal. It will draw on a new nationally representative survey of perceptions about taxes and subsidies in Nigeria. The analysis will show the characteristics associated with support for and opposition to subsidy reform. It will then…
This project examines how technology and third party information can be harnessed to promote tax compliance in the context of an amnesty program. Nigeria’s ongoing amnesty program, the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) is a time-limited opportunity for taxpayers to declare their previously undeclared assets and income for tax purposes. To avoid moral…
The recent crash in oil prices and subsequent economic crisis has highlighted the grave consequences that are associated with Nigeria’s heavy dependence on oil revenue and its low tax base. While this pattern is well known for the country, there is limited evidence on the state-by-state variation in oil dependence and economic outcomes. This study…
Nigerian tax-to-GDP ratio has been deteriorating from 7% in 2013 to 6% in 2017, which is far below the generally acceptable threshold of 15%; possibly due to lack of filing tax return by over 65% of the registered taxpayers. Hence, e-tax filling was introduced to improve tax administration efficiency. Notwithstanding, Nigerian tax system remains the…