Judicial Intervention In Tax Dispute Resolution

The judiciary plays a crucial role in the administration of justice. Applicable tax laws in Nigeria clearly define the procedures for tax appeal and for challenging any decision of tax authorities. Unfortunately, taxpayers hardly explore this avenue in asserting their rights and entitlements in the wake of tax related disputes. This creates situations where tax payers yield to the demands or directives of tax authorities even when they have a good cause of action. On many occasions a settlement arrangement is reached and the tax payer settles the alleged liability in pre-agreed instalments, unconscious of the notion that, a course of action not explored may continuously culminate to injury without remedy. This notion is most evident in the area of tax disputes as tax is a periodic and recurrent obligation owed by tax payers to the government based on the provisions of relevant tax laws. As Benjamin Franklin once said: " ... in this world, nothing is certain except