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Taxation and Fiscal Policies



 
We have made reference in earlier units to the division of the economy into various sectors, one of which is
the public sector. The principal feature of this part of the economy is that ownership and control are in the
hands of government in one form or another.
Therefore the public sector consists of Federal or Central
government, state government authorities, and public corporations. However, public expenditure includes all
expenditure under the control of the public sector which has to be financed mainly by taxation or borrowing.

In unit thirteen (13), public finance is explained as that aspect of economics which deals with government
revenues and expenditure. Again it involves detailed analysis of the various sources from which the government
derives its income. Taxation is one of the major sources of the revenue to the government. This unit
looks at taxation in all aspects and effects of taxation in the economy.
Monetary policy is advocated by the monetarists as the most effective means of controlling economic
variables.

However, Keynesian economists argue that monetary policy alone is not sufficiently powerful as a
Stabilization policy. To them, the most effective way of controlling the economy is the use of fiscal policy.
They see monetary policy as playing only a supportive role. The emphasis of our discussion in this unit is
fiscal policy. We shall, therefore, give attention to fiscal policy in this unit.
Fiscal policy is the influence of economic activities through variations in taxation and government expenditure
or public sector expenditure.



What is Tax?

Several definitions of tax appear in the economy literature. These definitions do not really vary as the same
though/runs through all of them.
According to Dalton, tax is a compulsory contribution imposed by a public authority, irrespective of the
exact amount of service rendered to the tax payer in return. Elsewhere, tax described as a compulsory
contribution from a person to the government to defray the expenses incurred in the common interest of all,
without reference to the special benefits conferred. From these definitions, three principal features of tax can
be deduced as follows:
(i) It is a compulsory contribution imposed by government on private persons, groups and institutions within
the country. Since it is a compulsory payment, a person who refuses to pay a tax is liable to punishment.
(ii) A tax is a payment made by the tax payers which is used by the government for the benefit of all
citizens. The state uses the revenue collected from taxes for providing economic, social, educational,
health and general administrative services which benefit all people.
(iii) Tax is not levied in return for any specific or direct services rendered by the government to the payer.
In summary it can be said that tax is a compulsory payment of money to government by individuals, groups
and corporations. It can be levied on wealth income or as surcharged on prices. Or taxation can simply be
seen as compulsory transfer or payment of money from private, individuals, institutions or groups to the
government.


Taxation Objectives – Reasons why Government Levy Tax

(1) The primary objective of tax is to raise revenue for the government. Indeed, to the most economics, tax
constitute the major source of revenue for the treasury.
(2) To encourage even development: The tax proposals can be designed to push productive resources,
especially capital from relatively more developed areas to relatively less developed areas of the nation.
(3) To control and regulate the production of certain goods, taxes may be imposed on the production of
certain commodities considered harmful or injurious to either consumers or the workers.
(4) To check the cyclical fluctuations in income and employment: Tax system can be adjusted to
motivate saving and investment which through the multiplier can accelerate income and thus increase
employment.
(5) To redistribute Income: One way of achieving the government’s role of reducing the irregularity gap
is to operate a highly progressive income tax system. This will reduce the consumption and health
accumulation tendencies of the rich. Taxation is used to reduce the gap between the income of the rich
and the poor.
(6) To check Inflation: With reasonable level of economic growth and full employment, an increase in tax
unaccompanied by increase in government expenditure will reduce the purchasing power of consumers
and thus check demand-full inflation.
(7) To regulate the consumption of certain commodities. Taxes can be imposed to control the consumption
of certain commodities considered either harmful/injurious to consumer or non-essential and too luxurious.
(8) Taxes may be imposed to influence the method and kind of business. This may take the form of
encouragement in which a subsidy will be adopted. The underlying motive may be to protect or subsidise
the said business and commerce. This may take the form of agricultural price support tax reduction
or input subsidization (e. g. fertilizer procurement and distribution in Nigeria).
(9) To prevent Dumping: There is a tendency for the industrialized world to dump their cheap products
on the developing countries where such products may not even be considered as necessaries heavier
tariffs can be imposed to prevent this act.
(10) To protect Infant Industries: Protective tariffs are also imposed to prevent the demise of infant local
industries as a result of foreign competition. Import duties are specifically designed to serve this purpose.
Taxation and Fiscal Policies 105
(11) To control Monopoly: Certain types of taxes may be anti-monopoly in purpose. Such taxes include
undistributed profits tax, excessive profits tax, intercorporate dividends tax and consolidate returns tax.
(12) To allocate resources: Taxation is also aimed at allocating resources between, for example, private
and public goods and between investment and consumption goods. It may also be aimed at correcting
deficiencies in the pricing mechanism resulting, for example, from monopoly elements, the existence of
external economics or diseconomics and in case where the social costs sharply diverge from private
costs.
(13) To maintain balance in the nation’s foreign accounts: Certain taxes may be imposed to reduce imports
and encourage exports such that balance of payments deficits are avoided, i. e. in Export Promotion.



Principles of Taxation

Also called the cannons tax, the principles were enunciated by Adam Smith. These principles have largely
been accepted by subsequent writers who have also elongated the list. Some of the principles include:
1. The Cannon of Equity: This means that the tax payable by a tax payer should be based on the tax
payer’s ability to pay. This principle demands economic justice in which each person’s contribution to
the state should be as much as possible be proportionate to the person’s ability. In order words the rich
should pay or contribute more than the poor.
2. Cannon of Certainty: This principle holds that a tax payer should be made to know the exact amount
of tax he should pay and when. This is to avoid the tax payer being cheated by corrupt tax officials.
3. Cannon Convenience: This means that the amount of tax and the timing of tax payment should be
made to suit the tax payer. It should be related to the way he receives and spends his income.
4. Cannon of Economy: Proponents of this principle posit that the costs of assessment, administration
and collection of tax should as much as possible be small relative to the volume of revenue generated in
practice. The cannon requires that the tax structure should be such that it is economically correct.
5. The Principle of Flexibility: Proponents of this principle posit that the tax system should make room
for changes in the tax structure to meet the changing requirements of the economy and treasury. It
should not be too rigid.
6. Principle of Diversity: The sources of Tax revenue should be as diverse as possible to ensure the
certainty of some revenue to the treasury at all times. It is, however, noted that too much multiplicity of
taxes may negate the principles of economy.
7. The Principle of Buoyancy: The system should be such that tax revenue would have inherent tendency
to change with changes in the National Income level without any changes in the tax coverage
and rates.
8. Principle of Neutrality: The willingness of tax payers to work, invest or save must not be discouraged
by the tax system.
9. The Principle of Productivity of Fiscal Adequacy: It requires the tax system to yield so much
revenue that the government would not need to borrow or be forced to resort to deficit financing. It
should not be too high as to discourage productivity.
10. The Principle of Simplicity: This cannon holds that the tax system and laws should be clear and
simple enough for the tax payer to understand. The tax schedule should be simple and easy to calculate
by both the tax collector and the tax payer. If the tax system is complicated and difficult to administer
and understand, it breeds problems of differences in interpretation and legal tussles.
11. Cannon of Impartiality: This cannon advocates that no partiality should be shown in the distribution of
tax burden.
12. Cannon of Acceptability: This principle holds that the rate of taxation should be such that is politically
acceptable.


 Types of Taxes – Nigerian Tax Structure

Two major groups of taxes can be identified. They are direct and indirect taxes.
Direct Taxes are levied on incomes and profits of firms. On the other hand, indirect taxes are levied on
goods and services. They can easily be avoided by not buying the goods to which they are attached to.
Direct Taxes
1 . Income Tax: This is the type of tax paid according to one’s income. Companies like human beings are
legal beings. Corporations, therefore, pay taxes on their income. Personal taxes are paid on total wages,
salaries, profits, interest and rent which a person receives with due allowances for family size, home
ownership, insurance contribution and other factors. Company or Corporate Income Tax is paid only on
corporate profit.
2 . Poll tax is imposed at a flat rate per head of population: It is a regressive tax because no matter
the size of a person’s income, everyone has to pay the same amount. Nigeria has a poll tax for people
with low incomes.
3 . Capital Tax: These are taxes imposed on property and other capital assets. For instance, when a
person dies his assets are subject to capital tax, in this case the term death duty or estate duty is used.
4 . Capital Gains Tax: This is paid on property, when you buy a property and over time it rises in value,
the amount by which it rises over what you paid is capital gain. The tax paid on this gain is called capital
gains tax.
5. Petroleum Profit Tax: In Nigeria, a tax is charged, assessed and payable upon the profits of each
accounting period of any company engaged in petroleum operations during any such accounting period,
usually one year.

Indirect Taxes
These are taxes levied upon persons or groups whom they are not intended to bear the burden or incidence,
but who will shift them to other people. They are normally levied on commodities or services hence their
services does not fall directly on the final payers. Ability to pay here is assessed indirectly.
Examples of Indirect are:
Custom Duties – Import and Export duties
Import duties are levied on goods coming into the country from abroad.
Export Duties: These are taxes levied on goods which are exported or sold to other countries by the home
country.
Excise Duties: These are levied on certain goods produced or manufactured locally.
Value – added – Tax (VAT) – This belongs to the family of sales taxes. The valued – added tax is not a tax
on the total value of the goods being sold but only on the value added (the difference between the value of
factor services and materials that the firm purchases as inputs and the value of its output) the value that a
firm adds by the virtue of its own activities to it by the last seller. Thus, the seller is liable to pay a tax on its
gross value but net value, that is the gross value minus the value of the services and materials purchased from
other firms, etc.
Sales Tax – These are taxes on selected sales transactions but applied at only one stage of business activity.
Stamp Duties: These are taxes on documentary evidence of particular transactions such as transfer or
property loans, bonds, mortgages, debentures, bills of exchange, promissory units, cheques bills of lading,
letters of credit, policies of insurance, transfer of shares, proxies and receipts.
It is evidence and not the transactions itself that are taxed.
Inheritance Tax – This is tax payable by the recipient or beneficiary of a deceased property.


Effects of Tax

The question posed now is whether tax has other effects and the answer is yes. The imposition and payment
of taxes elicit some responses from the imposition of tax engenders distortions in the production, employment,
consumption, wealth distribution and other variables in the economy. These distortions which are collectively
called the effects of tax could be for good or for bad. We shall take a global look at these effects. For this
purpose, four groups of effects shall be considered. These are:-
1. Effects on Inflation
2. Effects on Wealth and Income distribution
3. Effects on Economic Stability
4. Effects on productive growth

Effects on Inflation
Inflationary pressures will be heightened if taxes are increased on commodities with high demand elasticity
and low supply elasticity. On the other hand, the pressure on prices may not be increased if there is an
increased tax on commodities with high supply and low demand elasticities.
Effects of Wealth and Income Distribution
Government assume the responsibility for reducing the inequality gap (in income and wealth) in the economy.
Under certain circumstances, taxation can be a potent tools for achieving this noble objective.
Market economics are characterised by great deal of income inequalities through the institutions of private
property and inheritance. Taxation has the egalitarian objective of reducing this income and wealth inequalities
which incidentally conflicts with increasing production and economic growth objectives.

Effect on Economic Stability
While some economist have faith in the inbuilt Stabilizers that automatically adjust the economy if there is any
variation in one variable, others like Keynes opine that the economy is incapable of stabilising itself. Hence
government must intervene by way of tax and or expenditure adjustments. Progressive taxation is thus used
as an instrument to neutralise the fluctuations in output, employment, income, prices, etc.

Effect on Production and Growth
Tax can affect the production and growth of the economy in several ways. Indeed tax can influence the
supply of resources for production. High taxes, for instance, can reduce disposable income which will in turn
reduce savings and investment. If investors are taxed on their retained profits, they will resort to borrowing
since retained earnings will no longer be a sure way of getting finance. Even when resources are available,
their allocation to different areas of production can be influenced by tax. It is, therefore, necessary to be
careful and judicious in the choice of taxes as well as items and industries to be taxed. Taxes influence the
location of industries as well as the supply of labor, suppliers of labor must move to tax heavens from
areas of high tax.
Fiscal Policy works through and regulates the market mechanism without taking over the responsibility of
the market mechanism itself.


The Goals of Fiscal Policy

Fiscal policy, as an effective instrument of policy, may be used to accomplish the following goals:
(a) To increase employment opportunities or to attain full employment: The goal of fiscal policy is
the reduction of unemployment rate. Fiscal policy aims at achieving full employment in the economy
and at the same time ensure reasonable price stability. It is the wish of every government to reduce the
rate of unemployment to the lowest minimum.
High rate of unemployment requires expansionary fiscal policy but the government must also guard
against the inflationary impact of expansionary fiscal policy.
(b) Price Stability: Control of inflation fiscal policy aims at Stabilization of prices in the economy, that is
counteracting or avoiding inflation and deflation. Expansionary fiscal policy is used to fight deflation
while a contraction fiscal policy is used to fight inflation taking into cognizance the aims of attaining full
employment.
(c) To promote economic growth and development: One of the primary goals of fiscal policy is the
achievement of steady growth in national resources and in national output as well as structural and
attitudinal changes in the economy.
Economic growth here means continuing increase on the annual basis in production of goods and
services or a rise in per capital income made possible by continuing increasing in per capital productivity
whereas economics development refers to the changes in economic growth and social structure that
always accompany economic growth.
(d) To achieve equity in income redistribution: Fiscal policy is used to redistribute income so as to
achieve equity and for the attainment of social and economic justice. In equities in income, distribution
is very high in the developing countries of the world. Progressive tax structure is one of the measures
taken by the government to arrest the issue of inequality in income distribution.
(e) To achieve a satisfactory or favorable balance of payments: Fiscal policy is used to avoid and or
correct balance of payments deficits in the nation’s external trade relations. In such a situation, efforts
should be geared towards the reduction of importation by increasing import duties. Import substitution
industries should be established and exports should be given a big boost.
(f) To achieve a stable exchange rate: To avoid fluctuations in the nations external reserves and to
avoid fundamental disequilibrium in the nation’s balance of payments position, effective fiscal policy
measure are adopted. Stability in the price has great influence on the value of a country’s currency
which will equally affect the exchange rate between that currency and other currencies of the world.
(g) To increase the rate of investment, low rate of investment is not good for any economy. Low rate of
investment will lead to low rate of employment and eventually low income. Fiscal policy is employed to
generate revenues which should be used to increase investment in major sectors of the economy to
avoid recession. With government spending in the form of investment, the multiplier effect will help to
put back the economy on the right track.
The process will help to accelerate economic growth (National income via the multiplier process)


Types of Fiscal Policy

There are basically two types or approaches to fiscal policy. These are compensary and counter cyclical
approaches and they deserve good treatment.
(1.) Compensatory Fiscal Policy: This refers to the management of government finance to compensate
for fluctuations in National income and employment. The compensatory fiscal policy which combines
deficit and surplus financing attempt to achieve high level of National Income. It uses taxation and
spending to produce the desired balance.

The point here is that the government budget should be used as the major instruments for achievement
of macro-economic objective and the budgetary changes should be made as often as desired and
in whatever magnitude desired. To maintain a desired level of income during a business decline, any
decrease in private spending or investment must be balanced by government policy of either increasing
government spending or raising total government purchases from private business or reducing taxes i.
e. increasing the income of consumers, business or both has to be noted that the reverse will be the case
during the inflationary period. To maintain a desired level of income during a period of over expansion
and inflation, government policy would comprise a reduction in the government spending, a possible
increase in tax or both steps.
(2.) Counter Cyclical Action: The counter cyclical fiscal policy is the government effort to combat the
cyclical instability of the private enterprise system. Such action take many counter cyclical forms,
including fiscal policy, monetary policy and transfer payments. The basic aim of all such actions is to
eliminate the effects of the periodic fluctuations of the economy and to Stabilize national income and
production.
Under this countercyclical approach, the government plays the role of varying its expenditure policies
with the objective of moderating, fluctuations in income and employment over the business cycle, there,
the government is required to unbalance its budgets during deflationary and inflationary periods. This
means that the government will increase its expenditure and cut taxes when private spending declines.


The Instruments of Fiscal Policy

There are a number of instruments which the government employs in order to achieve its fiscal policy. Such
instrument include:
(1.) Government Expenditure: This is the total amount spent by the various three tiers of government
within a given period through governmental ministries, and departments including transfer payments.
According to Anyafo (1996:230), Transfer payments in the Nigerian content include “debt service i.e.
internal payment and capital repayments on internal and external debts, pensions and gratuities, external
financial obligations such as animal subscriptions to international bodies, and others”.
There are two types of government expenditure: Capital expenditure and Recurrent expenditure.
Capital expenditure are those expenditure made on items that can retain their value for more than one
year. Example of capital expenditure includes costs of constructing new roads and buildings, acquisition
of plant and machinery, and other fixed assets.
Recurrent expenditure are expenditure made on revenue items that will set up its value within one
year. Such expenditure is called recurrent expenditure because they are made repeatedly on a yearly
basis. They include salaries and other personnel costs, telephone services, stationeries and other running
costs of the various ministries and department of the government.
As a tool of fiscal policy, government expenditure can be used to influence the economy by influencing
aggregate demand.
The increase in government expenditure will make money available in the hands of the public. This
will increase aggregate demand which will make business of invest more and to employ more hands.
Moreover, the new government projects will create employment opportunities. Thus, the decline in the
economic activity will be reversed in government, expenditure may lead to an increase in the rate of
inflation.
During inflation, government can reduce the level of government spending and pursue a surplus
budget. The surplus fund is used in servicing public debts. The reduction in government expenditure will
reduce the spendable money in the hands of the public. This will lead to a reduction in aggregate
demand and general price level. Thus, the rate of inflation will be reduced, the negative aspect of a
reduction is the level of unemployment and level of economic growth.

(2.) Taxation: The second instruments of fiscal policy is taxation. Government can increase or reduce the
amount of tax payable by individuals and organization s as a means of influencing the macro-economy.
An increase in taxation reduces the spendable money in the hands of the public and hence the aggregate
demands. Such increase in taxation can, therefore, be used to reduce the rate of inflation in the
economy.
A reduction in taxation does the opposite. It leaves more money in the hands of the public since only
a small percentage of their income is paid back to the government. A reduction in taxation can be used
by the government to stimulate aggregate demand, investment spending and employment when there is
a slow down in the economy.
Unit that there is an inter-relationship between the two tools of fiscal policy. A reduction in taxation
can be used to achieve a deficit budget even when the level of government expenditure remains unchanged.
In that same manner, an increase in taxation can also be used to achieve a budget surplus.

(3.) Subsidy: This is another instrument of fiscal policy. While high rate of taxation will reduce economic
activities of the firm and the purchasing power of individuals, subsidy to the business firm will help to
boost economic activities. Subsidy will help the business firms to produce at a very low cost and make
the product of the firms affordable by the customers. Subsidy is only useful, during depression and low
economic activities while taxation will be very useful during boom and high economic activities.

(4.) Budget Surplus and Budget Deficit: Tools/Instruments of fiscal policy are basically budgetary policy.
The Federal budget is a statement of planned revenue and expenditure of the government within a
fiscal period. It shows how the government intends to get money and how she intends to spend the
money got.
A budget is said to be a balanced budget when the planned expenditure of the government equals
expected budget. When government expenditure is more than government revenue the budget is said to
be a deficit budget. A simple budget or budget surplus, occurs when planned revenue is more than
planned expenditure.
Surplus budget and deficit budget are unbalanced budget. An unbalanced budget can be achieved in
any of two ways. First is by increasing or reducing government expenditure. Second by increasing or
reducing taxations. That is the reason why the tools of fiscal policy are said to be government expenditure
and taxation. State in another ways, the tools of fiscal policy are surplus and deficit budget. Either
way the tools are the same and they have been discussed as government expenditure and taxation.


Limitations of Fiscal Policy

(a) There is the problem of how to make accurate short-run forecasts of the economic situation. Therefore,
fiscal policy action should be geared not to forecasts, but to actual situations since early solution to
the problem is unlikely. So long as a forecast is inaccurate, governmental action based upon it might be
harmful rather than remedial.
(b) There is the problem of how to appraise the effective force of the numerous techniques of fiscal policy.
The more tractable nature of this problem calls for the exploration of the issues by academic economists
to add to our knowledge of the force of specific measures of fiscal policy. This calls for speeding
up by governmental research in the CBN, the Ministry of Budget and planning, the Ministry of Finance
and Economic Development, etc.
(c) There are political obstacles in the way of a success fiscal policy, arising because the economy is
shaped to allow full expression of dissent which may be anti-thetical to execute parliamentary decisions
about debatable issues.
(d) There is also the problem of accurate data, which may become available only with a delay.
(e) The uncontrollable protions of the budget pose a problem in the use of fiscal policy.
(f) The use of fiscal policy is also limited by the time long involved.
(g) It is also discriminatory in effect since it is non-neutral not affecting the whole economy equally.

There are, however, a number of situation in which measures such as variations in government spending
and taxes may not have the desired effects on the level of economic activities.
Suppose the government in an attempt to stimulate growth, increases its expenditure. The resulting spending
on goods and services may be earned as income but people do not spend this income, it will constitute a
leakage out of the circular flow of income. The multiplier effect will therefore, be greatly reduced, and the
resulting effect on the level of output, income and employment may not be realized.

Again, people who earn the resulting income as a result of the government increased spending may not
spend these incomes on locally produced goods and services. They may decide to spend the incomes on
impacts of the particular economic exhibits, a high propensity to import as is the case with Nigeria. The
multiplier may be generated abroad and not in the domestic economy. Thus, the level of income, output and
employment may not change much as a result of the increased government spending.

Furthermore, it is argued that there are time lags between the time when fiscal policy is required and the
time it is actually implemented. This in turn may result in a situation in which by the time a particular fiscal
policy becomes operational, the result may be contrary to what was required originally. This particular criticism
applies as well to other economic policy measures, monetary policy and incomes policy.
From the foregoing above, there are broad limitations to the effectiveness of fiscal policy. These are (i)
Operational Limitations and (ii) Fundamental Limitations. The operational limitations to the effectiveness
of fiscal policy are usually associated with its timing and magnitude of the policy options, in terms of time,
there exist lags in the system. There is also the implementation or action lag. This is the length of time
between the realisation of the need for action and the implementation of new policy.

Before this time, however, the problem of determining the size of (or magnitude of the policy) government
spending and/or tax needed had to be contended with.
Fiscal policy is usually ineffective when the problem in the economy is fundamental, such fundamental
problems calls for basic adjustments in the economy. Examples include adjustment of production pattern to
changes in the pattern of demand and adjustment of wages to the productivity in various lines of economic
activity.


Conclusion

The problem of paying for government services is very much apart of the theory of public finance. There are
ways of meeting the cost of government services, most of them require a degree of compulsion. This is
taxation. Taxes are compulsory contribution from individuals and for business organization s for the purpose
of financing government expenditure.
Modern experts in public finance have argued that there are principles of taxation that sufficiently meet all
the purposes of modern economic policy which are partly achieved through budget.

There are two forms of taxes. These are (a) direct taxes and (b) indirect taxes.
Direct taxes, in very broad terms, are those taxes levied directly on individuals and business firms. Indirect
taxes on the other hand are taxes levied on goods and services.
Fiscal policy is concerned with deliberate actions which the government of a country take in the area of
spending money and/or levying taxes with the objectives of influencing macro-economic variables such as
the level of national income or output, the employment level aggregate demand level, the general level of
prices, etc., in a desired direction.

Generally, fiscal policy measures usually attempt to achieve one or some of the following objectives:
- influence the rate of the growth of the economy.
- raise the level of national income, output and employment.
- protect local industries from unfair competition from abroad.
- moderate inflationary pressure.
- improve the balance of payment.

The two key instruments of fiscal policy are:
- Government expenditure and
- Taxation


Summary

In this unit, we have succeeded in establishing that a modern economy, taxation is normally by far the most
important way of providing resources to the government, but other methods do exist. This unit dealt mainly
with the principles of taxation, different types of tax but also other ways of allocating resources from private
to the public sector, i.e. fiscal policy.



 

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