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Taxpayers Rights and Obligations Under the Nigerian Tax Charter

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Objectives

The objective of this chapter is to examine who a taxpayer is and to expose the readers to different rights and obligations of taxpayers under the Nigerian tax laws. Therefore, at the completion of study in this chapter, readers are expected to:

  1. i.

    know who a taxpayer is and

  2. ii.

    know about taxpayer’s rights and obligations under the Nigerian tax laws.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Hornby, A.S. Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English, (7th edn. Oxford University Press, 2005), p. 1517.

  2. 2.

    Such as Education Development Tax.

  3. 3.

    Bentley, D. Taxpayers’ Right: Theory, Origin and Implementation (Kluwer Law International, 2007), pp. 110–137, curled from Akintoye O.D . “Examination of the Powers of the Federal Inland Revenue Service and Taxpayers’ Right in Nigeria”, an Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Faculty of Law, University of Ilorin , 2014. In OECD jurisdiction, taxpayers’ rights are clearly spelt out for the benefit of generality of the taxpayers. To access this, see, OECD, GAP002 Taxpayers’ Rights and Obligations-Practice Note (Paris Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, 2001) available at http://www.oecd.org/ctp/administration/Taxpayers’_Rights_and_obligations_practice_note.pdf. See further, Aniyie Ifeanyichukwu Azuka “Human Rights and Taxation: Taxpayers Have Rights Too!” in Agbonika JAA (ed.) Topical Issues on Nigerian Tax Laws and Related Areas , (Ababa Press Ltd, Ibadan, 2015), p. 313.

  4. 4.

    Federal Inland Revenue Service Act, 2007, Section 26(1). We should note, however, that a right to notice is not an absolute right. The reason being that Section 41(a) Personal Income Tax Act mandated the taxpayer to file a return of income in the prescribed form and submitted to the tax authority even “without notice or demand” within 90 days from the commencement of every year of assessment.

  5. 5.

    See Section 57 Companies Income Tax Act, 2004.

  6. 6.

    Section 69 Companies Income Tax Act, 2004.

  7. 7.

    This was the decision of the court in the case of Okupe v. Federal Board of Inland Revenue (2010) 2 TLRN.

  8. 8.

    In Section 23(1)(2)(3) FIRS Act, 2007.

  9. 9.

    FIRS Act, 2007.

  10. 10.

    See Section 23(4) FIRS Act, 2007.

  11. 11.

    See Section 39(1) FIRS, 2007.

  12. 12.

    Such purpose is stated in Section 50(3) of the FIRS Act, 2007 that “a person appointed or employed under this Act shall not be required to produce any return, document or assessment or to divulge or communicate any information that comes into his possession in the performance of this duties except as may be necessary in order to institute a prosecution, or in the course of a prosecution for any offence committed in relation to any tax in Nigeria.” See also Section 48(2)(a)(b)(c) PITA.

  13. 13.

    See Section 39(2) FIRS Act, 2007.

  14. 14.

    In Section 29(6) of the Act.

  15. 15.

    Section 29 FIRS Act, 2007.

  16. 16.

    See Section 29(8) FIRS Act, 2007.

  17. 17.

    In Section 36(4).

  18. 18.

    http://www.riversbirs.gov.ng/2012/06/17/know-your-rights-obligations-ui. Accessed on 6 November 2015. See also Section 85(1)PITA.

  19. 19.

    Section 26(6) FIRS Act, 2007, see also Section 59(2)CITA, 2004 (as amended).

  20. 20.

    Section 26(5)(a)(b) FIRS Act, 2007. See also, Section 59(1)(a)(b)CITA 2004.

  21. 21.

    http://www.rd.go.th/publish/23517.0.htm/ for more information on taxpayers rights and responsibilities, see http://dor.wa.gov/content/aboutus/taxpayersrights.aspx. Accessed on 20 October 2015.

  22. 22.

    See Section 49(1) of the Petroleum Profits Tax Act (PPTA) CAP P13, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. Section 50(1) of the same law, however, provides that…if the board disputes any such claim, it shall give to the claimant notice of refusal to admit the claim and the provision of Section 36 of the PPTA shall apply with any necessary modifications.

  23. 23.

    Section 90 Companies Income Tax Act, CAP C21 Laws of Federation of Nigeria , 2004.

  24. 24.

    Personal Income Tax, CAP P8 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

  25. 25.

    See Section 83(1)(2)(3)(4) of Personal Income Tax Act, CAP P8 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

  26. 26.

    In see Section 33(1), ibid.

  27. 27.

    Section 16(1)(a)(b) of the Act CAP VI Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

  28. 28.

    Section 45 Personal Income Tax Act, CAP P8 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

  29. 29.

    In Section 59.

  30. 30.

    See the Case of Addax Petroleum Development (Nig)v. FIRS.

  31. 31.

    Okupe v. FBIR (2010) 2 TLRN.

  32. 32.

    See Paragraph 20(3) of the Fifth Schedule to the FIRS Act, 2007.

  33. 33.

    Section 32(2) Petroleum Profits Tax Act Right of Appeal is also enshrined in Section 43(2) Capital Gains Tax Act, CAP C1 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

  34. 34.

    Section 18(1) 5th Schedule to FIRS Act, 2007.

  35. 35.

    M.T. Abdulrazaq, op. cit. (n. 15), p. 1.

  36. 36.

    A tax returns is a form completed by taxpayers indicating their annual income as well as profit to provide basis for the calculation of the payable tax for the year ended tax. The requirement for company to file tax return with or without notice from the tax authority is contained in Section 55(1)CITA.

  37. 37.

    See Section 24(f) Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).

  38. 38.

    Section 41(1) Personal Income Tax Act, CAP P8 Laws of Federation of Nigeria 2004.

  39. 39.

    Section 41(3), Ibid.

  40. 40.

    Section 24 Tax Administration (self-assessment) Regulations 2011.

  41. 41.

    The deadline for Annual Tax Returns before the latest amendment to FIRSEA , 2007 was 31 March.

  42. 42.

    Going by the provision in Section 42(1) FIRS Act 2007 failure to provide full and honest statement in response to any question or enquiry put to him by tax officer in the course of their duty is an offence.

  43. 43.

    Obstructions is an offence under Section 41(a)(b)(d)(d) FIRS Act, 2007. It is also an offence under Section 105(a)(b) of PITA.

  44. 44.

    Section 36(6) PITA. Going by Section 52(1)(a) PITA, failure to keep proper records by taxable person attracts penalty of N50,000.00 for an individual and N500,000.00 for a body corporate.

  45. 45.

    See Section 53(6)(a)(b)(c) Personal Income Tax Act, Cap P8 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

  46. 46.

    Section 53(7) Personal Income Tax Act See also Adedokun K.A. op. cit. (n. 115), p. 63.

Relevant Tax Authorities and Reference for Further Reading

Cases

  • Okupe v. FBIR.: 2 TLRN where the court held that, non-service of the statutory notice of additional or revised assessment by the Service amounted to a breach of the taxpayers right. And that right of appeal is legislative safeguard against the excesses or likely abuse by officers of the Revenue Authority (2010)

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  • Addax Petroleum Development (Nig) Ltd v. FIRSC.: 7 TLRN 74 which established the fact that a tax appeal tribunal is an administrative tribunal set up to determine the correctness of assessment (2012)

    Google Scholar 

Books

  • Abdulrazaq, M.T.: Principles and Practice of Nigerian Tax Planning and Management. Batay Law Publications Ltd Ilorin (1993)

    Google Scholar 

  • Adedokun, K.A.: Enforcement and Recovery of Income Tax in Nigeria: Law, Practice and Procedure. Corporate Transactions Limited (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  • Akintoye, O.D.: Examination of the powers of the federal inland revenue service and taxpayers rights in Nigeria, an Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Faculty of Law, University of Ilorin (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  • Azuka, A.I.: Human rights and taxation: taxpayers have rights too! In: Agbonika, J.A.A. (ed.) Topical Issues on Nigerian Tax Laws and Related Areas. Ababa Press Ltd, Ibadan (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  • Bentley, D.: Taxpayers’ Right: Theory, Origin and Implementation. Kluwer Law International (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hornsby, A.S.: Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English, 7th edn. Oxford University Press (2005)

    Google Scholar 

Online Sources

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business Law, Faculty of Law, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria

    Saka Muhammed Olokooba

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  1. Saka Muhammed Olokooba
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Correspondence to Saka Muhammed Olokooba .

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Olokooba, S.M. (2019). Taxpayers Rights and Obligations Under the Nigerian Tax Charter. In: Nigerian Taxation. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2607-3_5

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