Term Paper written by Onipede Ibidunni Seun on Capital Gains Tax in Nigeria
Introduction
Discussing capital gain tax without first presenting a general overview of the entire concept of taxation will be tantamount to putting a cart before a horse. It is therefore very important that justice be done by explaining taxation and various types of taxes.
Taxation: A General overview
Tax and taxation has been variously defined by different authors. Oyegbile (1996) defines tax as a sum of money paid by citizens of a country, state or community to the government for public purpose. According to him taxation is one of the sources of income for government; such income is used to finance or run public utilities and perform other social
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Such documents must be stamped before they can be tendered as evidence in a court or presented for registration. * Probate tax: This is the tax paid on the property or estate of a deceased in order to obtain letters of administration of the estate. The chargeable amount is based on the open market value of the estate, as at the date of death of the deceased. * Capital transfer tax: This tax is imposed on the capital value of properties transferred. This tax was introduced in nigeria in 1979 via the federal government official gazette No. 18, vol. 66. The law was enacted to curb embezzlement of public funds by private individuals since the bulk of any money stolen will be subjected to heavy taxation when the estate is to be transferred. * severance tax: This tax is levied on the extraction of natural resources like agricultural produce, forest resources, petroleum and metallic stones e. t. c. this tax is levied to ensure that the benefits from the natural resources which in real sense are God given free gifts of nature are shared by all. * Capital gains tax: This tax came about as a result of Decree 44 of 1977. It is a tax on the gains which speculators or other property dealers realize on sale of real estate or landed property. * Site value rating: This is a tax on unimproved capital value of the site. The tax was introduced to encourage owners of undeveloped land to put them into immediate profitable use.
STRUCTURE OF THE NIGERIAN TAX
As seen in Chapter 15 of Real Estate Principles by Charles J. Jacobus, property tax is a large source of income for local governments. When property taxes are not paid, a lien is placed on the property. If property taxes are not paid, this gives the government the right to seize the property. This is currently happening to Bill Davies, a developer from Chicago, Illinois.
In government, taxation, people receiving different amounts of money according to their means and status, when in taxation, people are supposedly made to pay more or less depending on level of earnings, class and status, for example; the richest pay very little to the reserves, and they are exempted from paying taxes even though there are legal loop-holes devised and provided especially for them by the same government this makes the poorest in society pay more taxes.
Once a gain or loss is recognized, a taxpayer must determine how the recognized gain or loss affects the taxpayer’s tax liability. The character depends on a combination of two factors: purpose or use of the asset and holding period. The purpose or use of the asset is important because the law does not treat all assets equally. The general use categories are: (1) trade or business, (2) for the production of income (rental activities), (3) investment, and (4) personal. Based on these criteria, we can categorize an asset into one of three groups: (1) ordinary, (2) capital, or (3) section 1231. Characterizing the gain or loss is important because all gains and losses are not equal. Ordinary gains and losses are taxed at ordinary income rates, regardless of the holding
The issues of taxation
Explain the argument over whether or not this should be considered a tax instead of
* Estate Tax: combine with taxable gifts; to derive taxable estate, you are entitled to subtract contributions to spouse & charity. Only eligible for exemption if not used for gift tax purposes.
Business taxes can have a huge impact on the profitability of businesses and the amount of business investment. Taxation is a very important factor in the financial investment decision-making process because a lower tax burden allows the company to lower prices or generate higher revenue, which can then be paid out in wages, salaries and/or dividends. Business taxes include, Federal Income Tax; a tax levied by a national government on annual income, Payroll Tax; a tax an employer withholds and/or pays on behalf of their employees based on the wage or salary of the employee, Unemployment Tax; a federal tax that is allocated to unemployment agencies to fund unemployment assistance for laid-off workers, and Sales Tax; a tax imposed by the government at the point of sale on retail goods and services. Sales tax is based on a percentage of the selling prices of the goods and services. Consumers pay sales taxes, but effectively, business pay them since the tax increases consumer’s costs and causes them to buy less.
Taxes is when the state takes a percentage of the money you make to help the community or the state. Also one reason we get taxed is to pay off the government workers. Another reason we get taxed is to pay for the public buildings and public roads we use like libraries, schools, and highways. Finally another reason we get taxed is to help the poor or less unfortunate also to help an organization.
First of all, Property Taxes, Revenues and Interests are worth-based taxes paid on various types of property (e.g. residential and commercial real estate, motor vehicles, farm machinery, etc.). The body charged with tax collection is responsible for taxing authority appraises the
* The Act requires that any amount received based on production or use of property disposed must be included as property income
Taxation surrounds us in the world. Individuals fear tax, and a majority of the items we use and need are taxed. Even on topics such as Celebrities and the Olympics, taxation manages to find its way to still come up.
Taxes are the dollars that we pay to government to supply the services that are not or can not be provided through the free enterprise system. Taxes have been around since the beginning of organized societies. They come in various forms. Most common are income taxes both federal and local government. These taxes are assessed on the amount of income a person earns. Other taxes come in the form of user taxes; these taxes are imposed on the people that are using the goods being taxed, such as gas tax, alcohol tax, sales tax, and luxury taxes. Property taxes make up the major revenues for local and city governments. Furthering the burden of taxation are taxes that are attached to such bills as utility
Taxation is a levy or a charge imposed by a government on its citizens to raise revenue that finances public spending. The government of every country of the
Taxation systems are usually modeled in such a way that they take into consideration the social welfare of the citizens. The government and other policy makers have the responsibility of ensuring that the system takes into account the needs of the citizens. The bottom line is that taxation should foster equal distribution of resources. The rate of taxation is usually arrived at after several considerations have been made. The rates are not fixed as they depend on the various economic changes. The issue of how taxation should be distributed among the different economic classes is yet to be addressed.
I’ve summed up the introduction of Taxation to these slight words. Taxation is defined as a way that the government able to generate or collect revenue from the citizen of one’s nation through different sources. As what I’ve learned from Taxation course that there are two types of taxation, direct which are paid by the taxpayer directly to the government, and indirect which are collected by an intermediary (like a retail store) from the consumer. The intermediary who will file the tax return later and forward the amount of the money to the government with the return. This tax is applicable to organizations and individuals. In this reflection, I would like to highlight what I learned of business and individual taxation, the experience on working with a group for the project and what challenges I faced and how I was able to get past.