www.iaset.us editor@iaset.us TAX COMPLIANCE AND FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY: THE RIVERS STATE GOVERNMENT EXPERIENCE CLARIBEL DIEBO LONGJOHN 1 & TAMUNOSAKI ONOME-IWURU 2 1 Law Teacher, Faculty of Law, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Nigeria 2 Legal Officer, Legal Unit, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Nigeria ABSTRACT A high level of tax compliance cannot be dissociated from fiscal responsibility. The National Tax Policy acknowledges the absence of a taxpaying culture in Nigeria and has given tax authorities comprehensive powers to enable them function and promote tax compliance. In spite of these efforts, tax evasion amongst the self-employed persists. In Rivers State there is still great reluctance on the part of citizens to part with the requisite portion of their incomes for tax purposes. Against this background, this paper examines the legal framework for taxation of personal income and fiscal responsibility in Rivers state. This paper argues the thesis that a proper enforcement of the Rivers State Fiscal Responsibility Law will promote voluntary tax compliance. It further argues that the responsibility for enforcing the Fiscal Responsibility Law lies with the civil society. The paper seeks to, more particularly; locate the source of the apathy amongst taxpayers. Focus will be on working persons who do not have their taxes deducted at source. KEYWORDS: Tax Compliance and Fiscal Responsibility 1.0 INTRODUCTION Governments are financed through revenue derived from taxes. Taxation is devices employed by governments to raise funds that will enable them meet their obligations towards their populace. It is defined basically as the process of collecting taxes within a particular location. 1 Tax, on the other hand, is ‘a compulsory levy imposed on a subject or upon his property by the government having authority over him or the property.’ 2 It may also be said to be ‘a universally accepted contrivance for financing government services whether in peace or war, depression or prosperity.’ 3 It is worthy of note that a tax ‘is not a voluntary payment or donation, but an enforced and compulsory payment or donation, exacted pursuant to legislative authority.’ 4 The New Lexicon Webster Dictionary of the English Language 5 defines taxation as a ‘the system by which taxes are imposed’, while defining tax as ‘a charge on a person’s income or property, (direct tax) or on the price of goods sold (indirect tax) made by government to collect revenue.’ Taxation is, in effect, a means by which persons are obliged to contribute financially towards public finance. The objectives of taxation include the following; 1 National Tax Policy 2 ‘The Government, The Constitution and the Taxpayer’ in M A Ajomo, O Akanle (eds) Tax Laws and Tax Administration in Nigeria (Lagos: NIALS, 1991) p1. 3 A. Sanni Revenue Law p3 www.citn.org/others/Revenue_Law.pdf accessed Dec 21 , 2011 4 National Tax Policy 5 (1998 ed) 1987 Lexicon Publications Inc, New York, p1014 International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (IJHSS) ISSN(P): 2319-393X; ISSN(E): 2319-3948 Vol. 5, Issue 2, Feb - Mar 2016, 131-152 © IASET