Whether the power vested in States to Enact Laws to Impose Taxes, Fees and Levies is Circumscribed by the Taxes and Levies Decree No. 21 of 1998

Abstract

The continued reliance on the provisions of the Taxes and Levies (Approved List for Collection) DecreeNo. 21, 1998 (otherwise called the Taxes and Levies (Approved List for Collection) Act, Cap T2, Lawsof the Federation of Nigeria, 2004) has been a cause of grave concern to States and Local Government Councils’ power to generate internal revenue. The Taxes and Levies Decree No. 21 of 1998, as promulgated was an ouster to the powers of the component units of the Nigerian Federation in 1998 -
1999. This is because it was tilted against powers vested in a State House of Assembly to enact laws for the imposition, assessment and collection of “any tax”, fees, levies and rates by States and Local Government Councils. This article studies this trend, and examines the 1999 Constitution side-by-side the Taxes and Levies Decree No. 21 of 1998. Our research is to reveal the basis of that ouster, to unravel the constitutionality of the Taxes and Levies Decree No. 21 of 1998 as a Federal Law, and point out how its provisions as a matter-of-factly eclipsed on the coming into effect of the 1999 Constitution. We conclude by reasoning that the Taxes and Levies Decree No. 21 of 1998 has outlived its usefulness, being a Military Decree, and its authority has become extinct with the coming into effect of the 1999 Constitution; and that its objective to curb the “excesses” of States and Local Government Councils, in mounting road blocks to collect taxes has failed.