Abstract:

The major role of the government of any country cannot be over exaggerated and the economic growth of any nation depends on the amount of resources generated and its ability to finance its infrastructural needs, meet its expenditure and promote standard of living of its citizens. One of the problems of this study is recent decline in the oil price and continuous increase in government expenditure which resulted in huge debts accumulation in financing government budget deficit has led to various economic crises in the country. The main objective of this study is to examine the impact of company income tax revenue generation as an instrument for sustainable economic growth in Nigeria over the period of 2001-2016. To achieve this objective, relevant secondary data were collected from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Statistical Bulletin, Federal Board of Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and Company’s Annual Reports. Using annual time  series  data, a linear  model  of  Company  Income  Tax  (CIT),   Capital Gain Tax  (CGT), Value Added Tax (VAT) and  Economic  Growth  (GDP)  was constructed and estimated using the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) technique to examine the relationship between the dependent variable Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and independent variables (Company income tax, Capital gain tax and Value Added Tax). The regression result indicated that  company income  tax  has  positive  significant  impact on sustainable economic growth  in Nigeria which  directly  enhanced  economic growth  in  Nigeria. The study recommends that government should reduce corporate tax rate which will reduce drastically the motives behind profits shifting to other countries and protect the corporation tax base which will also increase the level of investment in the country.