THE IMPACT OF 2024 TAX REFORM ON PERFORMANCE OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN NIGERIA: A CASE OF NORTH WEST REGION OF NIGERIA

ABSTRACT The study examined the impact of 2024 tax reform on performance of small and medium enterprises in Nigeria. This study used descriptive research design. The population of this study consist of 11,731 registered small scale enterprises in Northwest States. Sample size of this study was guided by Kriejcie and Morgan (1970) table for determining sample size. Hence considering the size of the population, the researcher selects three hundred and seventy (370) SMEs. The primary data used for this study is questionnaire designed. The method used for analysis involve statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 24. The findings of the study revealed that Nigeria tax reform 2024 has positive and significant relationship with performance of SMEs in Nigeria. The study recommends that tax regulations governing SMEs should be simplified in order to improve their growth and to make compliance easier for them. This includes clear and simple tax regulations. The use of information technology should be encouraged. Taxes should be levied according to the growth of the business sales, size and profit; the ability of the business should be considered in levying taxes to avoid tax evasion. It is also recommending that there is need to implement a robust monitoring and evaluation framework to track the long-term effects of the 2024 tax reform on SME performance. This should include regular assessments of the tax burden on SMEs, their access to credit, and their overall growth trajectory. This data collection should be disaggregated by sector and size of SME to understand variations in impact.