Electronic Tax Monitoring, Fiscal Transparency and Digital Capacity Constraints in Nigeria: A Content Analysis

Abstract

The digital transformation of tax administration has increasingly positioned electronic tax monitoring as an important mechanism for improving the quality, traceability and transparency of public revenue information. However, the availability of electronic platforms does not necessarily guarantee effective fiscal transparency where institutional, technological and human-capacity limitations constrain their utilisation. This article examined two issues: the effect of electronic tax monitoring on fiscal transparency within Nigeria's public revenue institutions and the institutional, technological and human-capacity challenges constraining the effective use of electronic tax monitoring and big data analytics for fiscal governance. The study adopted a qualitative scoping content-analysis design. Relevant conceptual, empirical and policy-oriented materials contained in the source study were systematically identified, screened, coded and thematically synthesised. The analysis focused on recurring evidence concerning electronic records, revenue information quality, institutional capacity, technological infrastructure, professional competence, interoperability, data governance and taxpayer rights. The scoping analysis indicates that electronic tax monitoring contributes to fiscal transparency principally by generating verifiable, time-stamped and reconcilable records of tax-related transactions. The analysis further identifies three broad categories of constraints: institutional constraints involving fragmented systems, uneven implementation and weak governance arrangements; technological constraints involving inadequate analytical infrastructure, interoperability limitations and uneven digital maturity; and human- capacity constraints involving shortages of professionals with combined accounting, forensic and data-analytic skills. The evidence also indicates that Nigeria's electronic tax infrastructure has developed more rapidly than the analytical and human capacity required to exploit it fully. The article concludes that electronic tax monitoring should be understood not merely as an administrative convenience but as a transparency infrastructure whose effectiveness depends on institutional coordination, technological interoperability, professional competence and responsible data governance.

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