Tax Audit and Investigation: A Panacea to Increase Revenue Generation in Nigeria

The research work examines the effect of tax audit and investigation on revenue generation in Nigeria. The essence of the study is to determine the effect of tax audit and investigation, which is a viable instrument of relevant tax authority on revenue generation in Nigeria using the tools of tax audit and investigation as measuring indicators. Primary data were sourced through the administration of a structured questionnaire on 162 samples drawn from the total population of Federal Inland Revenue staff in the South-western zone of Nigeria, using Taro Yamane sample size calculator. Descriptive and inferential methods of data analysis were employed to measure the effect of tax audit and investigation’s indictors (desk/office audit, field audit, and audit investigation) on revenue generation. Findings revealed that about 38% variation in revenue generation in Nigeria is due to change in tax audit and investigation’s indicators/variables of DOA, FA, and ANINV, which implies that applications of these variables of tax audit and investigation will improve tax revenue generation in Nigeria as shown from the contributory regression coefficients of 0.576, 0.407, and 0.151 respectively. The study therefore recommends that effective and efficient tax audit and investigation habit should be encouraged by the relevant tax authorities as this will help in curbing taxpayers rendering false returns, reduce tax evasion and eventually improve tax revenue generation in Nigeria. Keywords: Tax Audit, Tax investigation, Field Audit, Office/Desk Audit, Revenue Generation, DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/13-18-05 Publication date:September 30th 202