Does financial system influence tax revenue? The case of Nigeria

Abstract

We examined the influence of financial system activities on tax revenue collection in Nigeria for the period of 1981-2014. After given consideration for the period of banking crisis with the employment of ARDL/ Bound test, causality test, variance decomposition and impulse response techniques, our analysis showed that financial system activities influence tax revenue collection in Nigeria. We showed that financial system variables such as stock market development, banking development, banking crisis and financial inclusion variables play a pivotal role in the tax revenue collection. The impulse response, causality test and variance decomposition results corroborate our regression results. Therefore, we conclude that financial system should be used efficiently by government to improve the level of revenue collection and hence, economic growth.