Conference Paper

The Incidence and Efficiency of Value Added Tax and its Legal Implication in Nigeria

The imposition of tax towards revenue generation for the development of a nation takes place globally, but the concern is about who the burden of payment falls on. In spite of the high burden of Value Added Tax (VAT) on consumer, if properly administered in the nation, its contribution will tremendously help to increase revenue generated that will be use to improve the performance of the economy. This study examined the legal and administrative framework, the incidence, and the efficiency of Value Added Tax in Nigeria. The study relied on secondary sources of data and employed qualitative approach for the analysis. The study revealed that Nigeria has been able to achieve its purpose by greatly increasing its revenue from Value added tax. The findings also revealed that incidence of value added tax fall on the final consumer who pay the price of goods and services consumed. However, the findings revealed that the tax has not helped the country to achieve its purpose of efficiency in supporting the realisation of sustainable development. The study therefore recommended how the impact of Value Added Tax can be manifested to encourage the people especially through increase of government expenditure on health care and infrastructural facilities. Keywords: Efficiency, Incidence, Revenue, Value Added Tax