Abstract

Taxation is a legally compulsory transfer of money from the public to the government, mainly as a source of government revenue. According to Bhatia(1987), a tax is a non guid proquo payment in the sense that the benefits received by the tax payer from the government does not necessarily correspond to the amount of tax paid. It can be equal, greater or less than the tax paid. The world over, governments; local to central place a central emphasis on taxation and taxes. Bhatia (1987); Masgrave and Masgrave (1989); Plank and Jackson (1973) in the various publication on public finance, have observed that without taxation, government would not be able to finance their cardinal role of providing public services. The above-mentioned authors conquer on a number of rationale for levying of taxes some of which include; - Providing source of government income for financing public services such as education, health and transport services to mention but few. Protection of domestic industries from competition from dumped cheap commodities from other countries. Reduce income inequalities, especially when a given tax system is progressive in nature