Assessment of Property Taxes and their Impact on Real Estate Investment in Plateau State, Nigeria

Abstract

Taxes imposed on property in the country are characterised by intricate and complex interactions of both traditional, colonial, and modern-day circumstances, and the revenue generated from these taxes is often an important source of finance for the government. In most developing countries, these taxes have led to multiple taxation due to complex, diverse, inadequate, and imperfect information. Thus, this study aims to assess the various property taxes in practice and their impact on real estate investment in Plateau State, Nigeria. The objectives pursued include identifying the various property taxes along with their administering agencies and assessing the impact of these taxes on property investment. The researchers targeted 90 respondents from an estimated population of one million five hundred in the Greater Jos area, and successfully recovered 68 responses through simple random sampling based on the survey conducted among residents.  A questionnaire was used to gather the views of taxpayers on multiple taxation and its effects on land and buildings, and the collected data was analysed descriptively. The results revealed that almost all taxpayers in Plateau State pay taxes to the government consistently and to more than two agencies. Furthermore, all tiers of government have their own forms of taxes collected, which have a direct effect on investment. It is therefore recommended, among other measures, that tax collection should be clearly defined and streamlined with respect to which tier of government is responsible for collecting specific taxes on property occupation. This could help reduce, if not eliminate, the issue of taxing the same property multiple times.