business tax-law
What can a lawyer do to make the government formulate better policies for tech startups?
<p>In Nigeria, most policies by the government affecting businesses are antagonistic to the growth of businesses partly due to lack of knowledge on the path of the government about the country's and world's changing economic climate and also corruption.</p>

<p>There are incessant taxes such as radio tax that a fledgling startup would have to pay to the government. These taxes are not only bad for these businesses but also hampers the country's development.</p>

<p>So as a lawyer, what can be done to the government and a startup to ensure these startups are not strangulated out of business?</p>

<p>Not much, other than run for office and change the law. The <a href="http://www.nigeria-law.org/ConstitutionOfTheFederalRepublicOfNigeria.htm#Powers_of_Federal_Republic_of_Nigeria" rel="nofollow noreferrer">constitution</a> grants broad legislative powers to the National Assembly. In the US, one would sue the government for exceeding its authority in passing some law, but because of the Commerce Clause and the Tax and Spending clauses of the Constitution, such a lawsuit against federal authority to impose a tax is unlikely to succeed (here). However, it is always possible that a particular tax is not being imposed according to law, so you could consult <a href="http://www.lawnigeria.com/Laws/Laws-Taxation-Regime.php" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this source</a> to at least get names of tax-related acts (it's not an entirely safe website). For instance, a suit was filed over the (Lagos State) Motor Vehicle Radio license fee. </p>
