ADJUDICATING TAX DISPUTES IN THE NIGERIAN TAX SYSTEM

This paper discusses the inevitability of disputation in the tax system as it is usual in other human endeavours. It proceeds with tracking the trajectory of the evolution of the dispute resolution mechanisms at different epochs of the Nigerian tax system. There is a discussion on the constitutional crises that rocked the defunct Value Added Tax Tribunal through the decisions of the courts in Stabilini Visinoni v. FBIR and Cadbury Nig. PLC v. FBIR vis-a-vis the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court as contained in section 251 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999. The current position of the law as to the jurisdiction relationship between the Federal High Court and the Tax Appeal Tribunal settled in NNPC v. TAT (Lagos Zone) and TSKJ v. FIRS have also been highlighted. The paper has also examined the adjudicatory process at the Tax Appeal Tribunal and the boundaries of its powers.