The economics of taxes goes beyond public revenues. Taxes serve as important economic policy tools and growth drivers. Economic literature is fraught with case studies of countries that have leveraged taxation to stimulate consumption and grow local industries.
Countries tend to reduce taxes during economic lull but increase the same during a boom. And there is often a trade-off between a higher tax burden and economic growth. Indeed, the questions relating to these decisions are not often as straightforward as they seem. Sometimes, such decisions could be as complicated as the devil’s choice; the alternative could, indeed, present themselves as the proverbial devil and the deep blue sea. Indeed, Nigeria is currently standing between the devil and the deep blue sea.
Presently, the country’s documented sovereign debt has ballooned to about N35.5 trillion, with the Federal Government alone looking at borrowing close to half of the figure in the next three years as captured in the…
Source: Guardian Newspaper
