1Amewuda Abraham | 2David Ackah (PhD)
1St. Johns Grammar School | 2Center for Excellent Training & Consultancy
Email: dashdollar2004@yahoo.com | drackah@ipmp.edu.gh
Abstract
Small and medium enterprises play an important role in transitional economies due to some of their special features: minimum bureaucracy, flexibility, quick adaptation; and special functions: creating of additional working places, active promotion of innovations, creating a competitive environment. Different policy incentives are able to influence the development and growth of the SME sector. However, creating proper taxation policies can be of crucial factors in this process. In investigating the empirical studies on the effects of Taxation and the General Barriers to SME Development on SMEs. It was observed that over the years, small and medium scale enterprises had been an avenue of job creation and the empowerment of Nigeria’s citizens, providing about 50% of all jobs in Nigeria and also for local capital formation. However, the mortality rate of these small firms was very high. Among the factors responsible for these untimely close-ups were tax related issues, ranging from multiple taxation to enormous tax burdens. The study therefore examined the effect of multiple taxation on SMEs survival. The study involved a survey research design with a population of 91. The researchers derived their sample size to arrive at 74 and a self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. These data were quantitatively analysed with simple percentages and tested the research hypothesis with ANOVA. Findings revealed that multiple taxation had negative effect on SMEs’ survival and the relationship between SMEs’ size and their ability to pay taxes was significant. The study therefore recommended that government should come up with a uniform tax policy that would favour the development of SMEs in Nigeria and government should put into consideration the size of SMEs when setting tax policies.
Keywords: Tax Theory, Public Financial Administration, Economic management, Sustainability of SMEs, Development Economics, Challenges Facing the Growth of SMEs
