DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF AN E-TAXATION SYSTEM

DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF AN E-TAXATION SYSTEM

Abstract

Tax is any form charge levied on a person or an institution by a governing body or its equivalent such that defaulted payment is punishable by law. The imposition of taxes and the institution of taxing is as old as civilization itself cutting across religion, race and continental borders. Prompt tax payment and reduced tax evasion is always a primary objective of the government in most civilizations that exist today. The issue of tax evasion has proven to be a difficult practice to curb even in nations with a proper database of its citizenry and the current mode of tax payment is redundant and hectic as ascertained through a survey of our case study. Some of the challenges governmental bodies have to overcome in order to encourage the prompt payment of taxes and effectively reduce evasion includes, developing convenient payment methods and having proper records keeping systems. This study is a concise summary of how the continuous development of computing science and its wide spread ability to be deployed to solve a wide range of problems can be geared towards the development of an electronic taxation system to assist government bodies with convenient tax collection and record keeping. The waterfall methodology was selected for system development. Goals to be achieved by the system are instant access, improved productivity through efficient utilization of resources, database creation and records management, simplification of operations, reduced processing time, user friendliness, portability and flexibility for further enhancement. The E-taxation is not a new system, but a rather local solution to a problem with global purview.  This system looks at how tax payment can be encouraged through simplification and increased efficiency in payment processing.

Chapter One

Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study

According to a world bank economic report on Nigeria published on the 1st of May 2013, it was stated that 95% of the government’s budgeted expenditure depended on its projected oil revenue based on current world oil prices. It was also recommended in the report that the Federal Government, through the improvement of the domestic tax system it can increase its internal revenue and provide in the event of a fall in oil prices a financial backup plan for the economy  (The World Bank, 2013). Tax is a charge imposed by a government on persons, entities or property, administered to generate revenue for that government (Black, 1999). Tax is a common source of income generation for financing government activities. Individuals and organizations are expected to fulfill their obligations on tax payment as required by law to give the government the financial power, amongst other purposes of taxation. Effective taxation therefore becomes important as it is a source of required financial power for a government to rule its territory. There are two forms of taxation common to most countries, direct taxes to be paid by the tax payer on his income, profit or asset owned. The other form, indirect taxes is imposed on commodities before they get to the consumer, and are to be paid by the consumer not as taxes but as a part of the selling price per unit of the commodity (Money Control, 2013).   The Nigerian tax system is surrounded by countless problems which include: Little data available on the history of tax revenues or tax payers due to a lack of proper records keeping system (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1997). A lack of comprehensive tax statistics and a centralized database for the existing ones (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2002). Deployment of limited man power and other necessary resources into redundant roles and job functions (Ariyo, 1997). Duplication of taxes and its negative effect on tax payers a problem resulting from a clash in the governments’ fiscal responsibility and its fiscal power (Odusola, 2002). Deliberate attempts by tax payers to evade taxes (Odusola, 2003). The aim of the e-taxation system is to provide the tax authority a database with details of taxpayers and their transactions. This would reduce the issue of tax evasion and hence an increase in government tax revenue. It would also allow taxpayers process their transactions online without having to visit the office of the FIRS, reducing the workload on the resources available to the FIRS and which consequently give room for the re-allocation of freed-up resources. The objectives considered during the development of the e-taxation system include: Creation and management an effective and efficient database to provide tax payers records, information/bio-data for easy referencing.

Chapters: 1 - 5

Delivery: Email

Number of Pages: 75

Price: 3000 NGN

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