Nigeria and Global Tax Governance: Institutional Capacity, International Tax Cooperation and Domestic Revenue Mobilisation

Abstract

Predictable domestic revenues are key to state capacity and tax revenue governance is a critical part of it. The domestic revenue mobilisation in Nigeria has been impacted by weak institutional capacity, tax administration weaknesses, compliance issues, the lack of coordination and transparency in the tax administration process and the complexity of collecting taxes on more and more internationalised economic activities. These challenges cross-cut with global tax governance, where they are addressed in the global standards on tax transparency, automatic exchange of information, beneficial ownership, BEPS and cooperation against illicit financial flows. This study focuses on the relationship between institutional capacity, international tax cooperation and domestic revenue mobilisation in Nigeria and adopted a qualitative approach with documentary research method. It reviews evidence from 2000 to 2025, comprising of Nigerian laws and government reports, domestic, international and fiscal sources, peer-reviewed literature and global tax-governance documents. Targeted search of Google Scholar, Scopus and Web of Science, along with official institutional repositories, was conducted for the identification of documents. Analysis is centred on institutional effectiveness, transparency and accountability and domestic revenue mobilisation is the major governance outcome. Results suggest that tax institutions' ability to register taxpayers, administering liabilities, ensuring compliance and coordinating across jurisdictions, and managing information, are found to have significant effects on revenue performance. Nigeria has taken strides to improve international tax cooperation, including automatic exchange of information and Country-by-Country Reporting but there are deficiencies in data quality, enforcement, coordination and administrative capacity. Thus, effective global tax-governance processes and transparency and accountability in domestic tax institutions are essential for sustainable revenue mobilisation.