Corporate Income Tax, A Panacea for Sustainable Economic Growth in Nigeria

This study examined corporate income tax as a panacea for sustainable economic growth in Nigeria, with emphasis on the effects of import duty and export duty on the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate. The study adopted an ex post facto research design and relied on secondary data covering the period from 1995 to 2021. Descriptive statistics and the Johansen cointegration technique were employed for data analysis. The descriptive results showed substantial volatility in import and export duty revenues, while the GDP growth rate exhibited periods of both expansion and contraction. The Johansen cointegration results revealed the existence of one cointegrating equation between import duty and GDP growth rate, as well as between export duty and GDP growth rate, indicating significant long-run relationships. Specifically, the trace and maximum eigenvalue statistics for import duty (Trace = 6.997599, Prob. = 0.0082) and export duty (Trace = 13.85142, Prob. = 0.0002) exceeded the critical values at the 5% level of significance. The findings demonstrated that components of corporate income tax, particularly import duty and export duty, significantly influence economic growth in Nigeria. The study concluded that corporate income tax can promote sustainable economic growth if efficiently administered and effectively utilized. It therefore recommended improved tax administration, balanced trade tax policies, and prudent utilization of tax revenue to enhance Nigeria’s long-term economic growth.