Tax Ombud crucial to building fair, accountable tax system –AERE
As Nigeria intensifies efforts to increase revenue, the Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics Ltd/GTE (AERE) has stressed the importance of protecting taxpayers and ensuring accountability in tax administration through a strong and effective Tax Ombud.
In a policy brief titled “Tax Justice Must Have a Human Face: Why Nigeria’s Tax Ombud Matters in the Age of Digital Assets and Multiple Taxation,” Chairman of AERE, Kelvin Dele-Oye, said taxation could not be sustained by legal authority alone, but also required legitimacy and public confidence in the system.
According to him, taxpayers must have confidence that government will act lawfully, explain its decisions fairly and provide meaningful avenues for redress when tax administration fails.
“Taxation is not sustained by legal power alone. It is sustained by legitimacy—the confidence that the state will act lawfully, explain itself fairly and give citizens a meaningful avenue of redress when administration fails,” he said.
Dele-Oye noted that Nigeria’s tax system was entering a more complex phase, driven by the emergence of digital assets, multiple taxation and growing revenue demands, which were placing increasing pressure on both taxpayers and government.