Taxation and Incentives in Private Health Services Delivery in Nigeria: Opinion of Private Health Practitioners
Main Article Content
Keywords
Nigeria, Private Health Services, Return on Investment, Public Health Goods, Incentives, Taxation
Abstract
Background: Tax relief and incentives are utilized to encourage the private health sector to provide services that are advantageous to community health. The aim of this study was to explore the issues related to taxes paid, incentives provided, returns on investment, satisfaction with practice, and plans of private health practitioners who were conference attendees in Port Harcourt in 2021.
Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out at two national events in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria in October, and December 2021, among conference attendees using self-administered questionnaires. Data obtained was analyzed using the IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 and presented in tables.
Results: A total of one hundred and sixty-six (166) respondents were involved in the study. One hundred and four (62.7%) respondents believed they experienced multiple taxation from agencies of government. Most respondents paid at least fifty thousand and above as taxes to various levels of government. One hundred and forty-two (85.5%) respondents believed they did not receive any incentive from governments for their private health businesses. Fifty-three (31.9%) were not satisfied, while55 (33.1%) respondents were managing to survive in the business environment.
Conclusion: Private healthcare practitioners in Nigeria experience multiple taxation and a lack of incentives from governments. Dissatisfaction with the return on investment is prevalent. Inclusive health sector reform that will partly reduce the potential for brain drain is therefore needed.
References
2. Easson A, Zolt EM. Tax incentives: World Bank Institute; 2002.
3. Saavedra S, Romero M. Local incentives, and national tax evasion: The response of illegal mining to a tax reform in Colombia. European Economic Review. 2021; 138:103843.
4. Klemm A. Causes, benefits, and risks of business tax incentives. 2009.
5. Slattery C, Zidar O. Evaluating state and local business incentives. Journal of Economic Perspectives. 2020;34(2):90-118.
6. Prillaman SA, Meier KJ. Taxes, incentives, and economic growth: Assessing the impact of pro-business taxes on US state economies. The Journal of Politics. 2014;76(2):364-79.
7. Domazet I, Marjanović D. Tax incentives as a factor of economic growth. Review of applied socio-economic research. 2017:93-107.
8. Bartik TJ. A new panel database on business incentives for economic development offered by state and local governments in the United States. 2017.
9. Hoyt WH, Jepsen C, Troske KR. Business Incentives and Employment: What Incentives Work and Where? Institute for Federalism & Intergovernmental Relations Working Paper. 2008(2009-02).
10. Gabe TM, Kraybill DS. The effect of state economic development incentives on employment growth of establishments. Journal of Regional Science. 2002;42(4):703-30.
11. Omogbolagun T. Seventy percent of Nigerians get healthcare from the private sector, says SFH. Retrieved on 24th February 2022, Online @https://punchng.com/70-nigerians-get-healthcare-from-private-sector-says-sfh/: Punch; 2021.
12. Ramadhan H. Retention challenges of human resources for health: what are the alternative incentives for retention of skilled health workers in Uganda health sector? Medical Practice and Reviews. 2015;6(2):16-23.
13. Tandi TE, Cho Y, Akam AJ-C, Afoh CO, Ryu SH, Choi MS, et al. Cameroon public health sector: shortage and inequalities in geographic distribution of health personnel. International journal for equity in health. 2015;14(1):1-12.
14. Ngure KP. Factors influencing retention of health workers in the public health sector in Kenya: A case study of Kenyatta National Hospital: JKUAT-COHRED; 2018.
15. Dovlo D. The brain drains in Africa: An emerging challenge to health professionals' education. Journal of Higher Education in Africa/Revue de l'enseignement supérieur en Afrique. 2004:1-18.
16. Okafor CJ, Chimereze C. Brain drain among Nigerian nurses: Implications to the migrating nurse and the home country. International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation. 2020;7(1):15-21.
17. Anyangwe SC, Mtonga C. Inequities in the global health workforce: the greatest impediment to health in sub-Saharan Africa. International journal of environmental research and public health. 2007;4(2):93-100.
18. Ćulafić S, Janovac T, Jovanović SV, Tadić J, Jaganjac J, Milošević A, et al. State Incentives and Sustainable Motivation System in the Health Sector. Sustainability. 2021;13(24):13592.
19. Khan M, Roychowdhury I, Meghani A, Hashmani F, Borghi J, Liverani M. Should performance-based incentives be used to motivate healthcare providers? Views of health sector managers in Cambodia, China, and Pakistan. Health Economics, Policy, and Law. 2020;15(2):247-60.
20. Huillery E, Seban J. Financial incentives, efforts, and performances in the health sector: Experimental evidence from the democratic republic of Congo. Economic Development and Cultural Change. 2021;69(3):1115-64.
21. Cassar L, Meier S. Nonmonetary incentives, and the implications of work as a source of meaning. Journal of Economic Perspectives. 2018;32(3):215-38.
22. Henderson LN, Tulloch J. Incentives for retaining and motivating health workers in Pacific and Asian countries. Human resources for health. 2008;6(1):1-20.
23. Hanson K, Gilson L, Goodman C, Mills A, Smith R, Feachem R, et al. Is private health care the answer to the health problems of the world's poor? PLoS Medicine. 2008;5(11): e233.
24. Sengupta A, Nundy S. The private health sector in India. British Medical Journal Publishing Group; 2005. p. 1157-8.
25. Bhat R. Regulation of the private health sector in India. The International journal of health planning and management. 1996;11(3):253-74.
26. Burger NE, Kopf D, Spreng CP, Yoong J, Sood N. Healthy firms: Constraints to growth among private health sector facilities in Ghana and Kenya. PloS one. 2012;7(2):e27885.
27. Banda EN, Walt G. The private health sector in Malawi: opening Pandora's box? Journal of International Development. 1995;7(3):403-21.
28. Mba PN, Ekeopara C. Brain drain: Implication for economic growth in Nigeria. American Journal of Social Issues and Humanities. 2012;2(2):41-7.
29. Onu JU, Oriji SO, Aluh DO, Onyeka TC. Aftermath of COVID-19: Forestalling Irreparable Medical Brain Drain in Sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of health care for the poor and underserved. 2021;32(4):1742-51.
30. Osigbesan OT. Medical Brain Drain and its Effect on the Nigerian Healthcare Sector: Walden University; 2021.
31. Michael O. Multiple taxation as a bane of business development in Nigeria. Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies. 2014;3(1):121-.
32. Adebisi J, Gbegi D. Effect of multiple taxation on the performance of small and medium scale business enterprises. (A study of West African Ceremics Ajeokuta, Kogi State). Mediterranean journal of social sciences. 2013;4(6):323.
33. Daniel CO. Effect of Multiple Taxation on Small/Medium Enterprises In Nigeria. International Journal of Advanced Research and Publications. 2019;3(4):26-31.
34. Tabet R, Onyeukwu PE. Multiple taxation and small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) financial performance in Abuja, Nigeria. World Journal of Innovative Research. 2019;6(2):65-8.
35. Agwu MO, Emeti CI. Issues, challenges, and prospects of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in Port-Harcourt city. European journal of sustainable development. 2014;3(1):101-.
36. Bello T. Law and Economics of Taxation, Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion; A Nigerian Template. 2017.
37. Egbunike F, Gunardi A, Ugochukwu U, Hermawan A. Internal Corporate Governance Mechanisms and Corporate Tax Avoidance in Nigeria: A Quantile Regression Approach. Jurnal Ilmiah Akuntansi Dan Bisnis. 2021;16(1):20.
38. Erumebor W. Review of the Nigerian Economy in 2020 and Key Priorities for 2021 and Beyond. Economic and Policy Review. 2021;19(1).
Article Sidebar
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
This is an open-access journal and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike License 4.0. This licence allows users to download and share, remix, tweak and build upon the article for non-commercial purposes, so long as the original authorship is acknowledged and the new creations are licensed under identical terms.