IMPACT OF TAX EVASION ON SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN AKINYELE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, OYO STATE

ABSTRACT This study examines the effects of tax evasion on sustainable infrastructural development in Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State. The identified problem is that the absence of tax evasion reduces the funds that can be used to develop infrastructure and further increases the social inequality within the locality. The particular purpose of the study is to investigate how tax evasion would affect sustainable infrastructural development, what are the major causes of tax evasion among people and businesses, what will be the impact of tax evasion on the sustainability of the existing infrastructure, and what strategies can be applied to enhance tax compliance to the benefit of sustainable infrastructural development. The study took the form of survey research whereby the whole population will be made up of sixteen (16) wards in Akinyele Local Government Area. A sample size of ninety six (96) respondents was chosen out of which seventy (70) questionnaires were obtained- thirty eight (38) of the tax authorities and thirty two (32) of the tax payers. Results indicated that tax evasion is a practice that has serious negative consequences in the sustainable infrastructural development, which can be applied both in the long and short term effects including delayed infrastructural projects, poor maintenance of available facilities, and low economic growth. The research finds that good tax management can be of great importance to attaining sustainable infrastructural development and suggests that the local government should update its tax collection system by going digital and conducting frequent audits to enhance accountability and revenue collection, as well as sustain infrastructure projects.