CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1    BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Revenue generation in Nigeria Local Government is principally derived from TAX. Mean-while, Tax is a compulsory levy imposed on individual or companies for the various legitimate functions of the state (Oloaye, 2008). Tax is a necessary ingredient for civilization. The history of man has shown that man has to pay tax in one form or the other, that is either cash or in kind, initially to his chieftains and later in a form of organized Government (Oloaye, 2008). No system or rule can be effective whether foreign or native unless it enjoys some measure of financial independence. Local Government in Nigeria has developed over the years. Historically, the development of direct taxation in Local Government in Nigeria can be traced to the period before the British pre-colonial era. Under this period, community tax where levied on communities (Robin, 2004). Recently, the revenue generation of the Local Government is derived from two main sources, external source and internal source. External sources include statutory allocation to the Local Government from the State Government to the Local Government in its area of Jurisdictions, borrowing from State Government and other financial institutions, statutory allocation from the Federal account, local rates on markets and shops. While the internally generated sources of finance include local rates, market taxes, bicycles, trucks, canoes, wheel barrow rates, mechanic shops and so on. Other means of internally generated revenues by the Local Governments are fine charged by customary courts, Local Government business investment rates, fees from schools established by Local Government, shops rates, license fee, marriage registration fee, birth registration fee, Naming of street registration fee excluding any street in the State Capital, tax payable by cattle farmers, merriment on road closure levy, refuse disposal fees, fee collected from amusement centers established and operated by local authorities and so on.