Tax Capacity Building and Revenue Performance of Local Government Areas in Edo State

This research examines the relationship between tax capacity building initiatives and revenue performance across local government areas in Edo State, South South Nigeria. Local governments in Edo State are empowered to collect a range of taxes and levies including property rates, market fees, motor park charges, and entertainment taxes, yet many LGAs consistently fall short of their revenue potential. A well-funded and professionally trained revenue workforce is considered a prerequisite for improving this performance. Using a mixed-methods professional research design, the study surveys 90 revenue officers across twelve LGAs in Edo State and analyses LGA revenue performance reports from the state's Local Government Service Commission over four fiscal years. The questionnaire assesses educational qualifications, professional training exposure, awareness of current tax laws, and performance motivation. Regression analysis examines the relationship between training investment indicators and revenue outturn. The study expects to find that LGAs with higher proportions of trained revenue staff and access to digital collection tools record significantly higher revenue performance. It also anticipates that locally politically influenced revenue appointments are a significant negative predictor of performance. Recommendations include establishing a professional certification track for local government revenue officers, funding inter-LGA tax administration training workshops through the Edo State Ministry of Local Government, and linking staff promotion to demonstrated revenue target achievement. Keywords: tax capacity building, local government revenue, Edo State, revenue officers, performance.