Title: Tax Appeal Tribunal And Tax Dispute Resolution In Nigeria: Matters Arisings
Authors: Kachidobelu John Bielu, BL, LLM, PhD,
Volume: 9
Issue: 4
Pages: 227-238
Publication Date: 2025/04/28
Abstract:
The quest for the appropriate tax dispute resolution mechanism has been a thorny issue in tax administration, collection and enforcement in Nigeria. Tax Appeal Tribunal otherwise referred to as TAT is a body statutorily created and charged with the resolution or settlement of tax disputes in Nigeria.1 The tribunal exercises jurisdiction over all laws and other tax enactments2 listed in the first schedule to the Act.3 From the provisions of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, 2007, otherwise herein referred to as FIRS (E) Act, 2007, it appears that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has plenitude of powers to administer and collect every tax pursuant to tax enactments in Nigeria. The FIRS (E) Act established adjudicatory body, the TAT, which also shall enjoy the jurisdiction or adjudicatory powers over the tax enactments in the country. It is trite that where the adjudicatory body lacks the requisite jurisdiction to entertain a matter before it, an appellate court will readily declare the whole proceedings a nullity, no matter how well conducted.4 The status of the tax disputes mechanism, the Tax Appeal Tribunal has been questioned and became a thorny issue in the resolution of the tax disputes in Nigeria. The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended enumerated the known courts of records but to the exclusion of Tax Appeal Tribunal (TAT). This work examined the laws in Nigeria to discover the status of TAT in the Corpus Juris. Doctrinal method was adopted and analytical approach used to review the provisions of the extant laws, judicial authorities and the opinion of authors on the issue. TAT as presently constituted is not a court, a fact finding or administrative tribunal but a statutory fiction suigeneris. It hands down binding decisions in the resolution of tax disputes, yet it is not a court but procedurally the outcome of its decision leads an aggrieved party to appeal to the superior courts of record. There is urgent need for the amendment of the constitution5 to incorporate TAT at least as an inferior court.