Impact Of Taxation On The Operation Of Small And Medium Scale Business
[A CASE STUDY OF SMEs IN ABEOKUTA METROPOLIS]

1.11     Definition of Terms
In order to clear the air to avoid ambiguity, the following are defined.
a.    Tax: This is a compulsory financial charge or other levy upon and individual or legal entity by a state or the functional equivalent of money paid to the government other than for transaction-specific goods and service. It is not a voluntary contribution, payment or donation but rather, it is imposed by government under the name of import duty, exercise, etc.
b.    Tax rate: Taxes are most often levied as a percentage. Thus, tax rate is the percentage of income or profit of individual paid as tax.
5    Tax burden or tax base: otherwise called tax incidence is on whom a tax is collected from. Depending on the elasticity of product, a tax imposed on a seller can be ultimately paid by the buyer simply by shifting the burden in form of a higher price.
6    Small scale enterprise: This is sometime called small scale business. It is a business that employs small number of workers and does not have a very high volume of sales.
7    Abeokuta: Abeokuta is the largest city in and the state capital of Ogun state in southwest Nigeria. It is situated on the east bank of the Ogun River, near a group of rocky outcrops in a wooded savanna; 77km(48 mi) north of Lagos by railway, or 130km(81 mi) by water. As of 2016, Abeokuta and the surrounding area had a population of 449,088 (Wikipedia.com)  
8    Excess burden of a tax: In economics, the excess burden of taxation, also known as the deadweight cost or deadweight loss of tax is one of the economic losses that society suffer as the result of taxes or subsidies.
9    Tax holiday: A government incentive program that offers a tax reduction or elimination to businesses. Tax holidays are often used to reduce sales taxes by local governments, but they are also commonly used by governments in developing countries to help stimulate foreign investment
10    Progressive tax: Is a tax in which the tax rate increases as the taxable amount increases. The term ‘progressive’ refers to the way the tax rate progresses from low to high, with the results that a taxpayer’s average tax rate is less than the persons marginal tax rate.