Ambiguities in the Nigerian Tax Laws

Abstract

Due to special position of the fiscal legislation, some of the language used in couching the Nigerian Tax Statutes are technical and in some instances ambiguous. The resultant effects of these are problems of interpretation, language incorrectness and procedural inaptness which invariably make tax compliance and administration a zero act in Nigeria. this paper therefore examines the interpretative mechanism of legal language. the paper also examines some tax law provisions that are ambiguous, incorrect and in apt procedural in the corpus of the Nigerian tax regime. in the final analysis, the paper posits that ambiguity and language incorrectness in the Nigerian tax provisions constitutes a major clog to tax compliance, enforcement and administration in Nigeria. to check this, the paper recommends for the use of simpler and clearer language in couching the tax regimes as well as amendment to the ambiguous provisions to guarantee the effectiveness and functionality of the Nigerian tax laws