AN EXAMINATION OF THE IMPACT OF NIGERIAN CORPORATE TAX LAW ON INVESTMENT PROMOTION

CHAPTER ONE:

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

• Background:

Taxation in general, occupies a significant position in the economy of the country. As one of the primary sources generating revenues for government, the significance of it cannot be overemphasized. For instance, the Federal Government (F.G.) generated 2.2 and 2.8 trillion Naira as tax revenue for year 2009 and 2010 respectively. In 2012 and 2013, the

F.G. budget was about 4.7 and 4.92 trillion Naira respectively.  In 2012 alone, the  Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) collected the sum of 5 trillion naira as tax. In 2013, the Federal Government generated the sum of 4.8 trillion Naira from taxation. About one trillion Naira came from corporate tax. This was equivalent to one fifth (1/5) of Nigerian Federal Government budget for that year.

Investment is equally vital to the economic growth of a nation. This is because investing in various sectors of economy provides employment opportunities, lead to a high returns and more income to the investor which subsequently increase the government revenue. Furthermore, Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) particularly from multinational corporations bring foreign capital in the form of technical skills, entrepreneurship, technology and investment fund to boost economic activities in the country. This can raise the standard of living in Nigeria. In order to achieve this, government has to attract companies and individual investors to invest in the country. It has to ensure the availability of necessary factors that can make them to decide to invest in the country. It has to promote investment in the country. Thus, investment promotion is necessary for the economic development of a nation

Investment promotion is a set of activities used by governments to attract investors. The activities may inter alia include advertising, providing market information, organising investment seminars and participating in trade exhibition. It also includes identifying potential investors, matching them with local partners and providing them with pre- investment implementation and post investment services. It may also include granting incentives and screening and negotiating with foreign investors. Simply put, investment promotion is government effort to communicate to investors about investment climate so as to convince them to invest or reinvest in the country. Consequently, investment promotion may attract companies and make them to decide to invest in the country. However, before a company will take a decision to invest in a particular area, it makes a feasibility study of the investment project. In other words, it has to determine on how, when, where and how much capital will be spent on the available opportunities for the investment. This is what is called investment decision. It is one of the engines of long- term economic growth. In making an investment decision, there are various factors that companies take into consideration. Corporate taxation is one of them. This is the motivation  for  ―An  Examination  of  the  Impacts  of  Nigerian  Corporate  Tax  Laws  on Investment Promotion.‖