A Cross-Cultural Assessment of Nigerian Taxpayers’ Perception of Fiscal Exchange Paradigm, Institutional Arrangement and Attitude of Tax Officials

This study empirically assessed procedural justice and fiscal exchange across the three main cultural groups in Nigeria. Targeted population was individual taxpayers (n=500) using mainly questionnaire for its primary data. Data were statistically analysed with SPSS. Result shows favourable perception of each of the psychological factors as well as high level of tax compliance. The three variables are however found to vary significantly across cultures thus establishing relevance of culture on each psychological factors and tax compliance. Other factors found relevant are taxpayers’ bio-data like age, gender, religion, as well as employment category as a measure of opportunity to evade tax. On a general note, major finding from the study agrees with findings from earlier researches. It however concluded that model that can ensure sustainable tax compliance would be a comprehensive one that considers all economic, social, cultural, psychological factors. Recommendations were made to major stakeholders including future researchers. Keywords: Tax compliance, psychological model, fiscal exchange, procedural justice, culture

Quality of Tax Services, Moderated by Trust in State Internal Revenue Service and Voluntary Tax Compliance Behaviour among Individual Taxpayers in South-West, Nigeria

Research on tax compliance is of economic, social and political benefit to the government and the citizens. Constant loss of tax revenue due to level of Quality of Tax Service (QTS) rendered by tax authority is perceived to have adversely affected nation’s revenue generation and infrastructural development. Researches have been carried out on taxpayers’ compliance, but not many considered the effect of QTS in their study. This studied looked at the probable influence of QTS on taxpayers’ Voluntary Tax Compliance (VTC) behaviour in South-West, Nigeria. The study used survey research design with study population of 5,216,422 individual taxpayers. Data were collected with validated questionnaire by means of random sampling techniques. Sample size of 1,200 was used with a response rate of 87.6%. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse data at 5% significance level. The study revealed that QTS positively influenced VTC among individual taxpayers in the study states (Adj.R2 =.117, F(6, 1050) =24.139, p =.000). There was evidence that trust in State Internal Revenue Service, QTS and employment status have significant relationship with VTC behaviour while gender, age and educational level do not have significant relationship with VTC in the study states respectively. The study concluded that QTS influenced VTC. Therefore, lack of tax awareness, tax education/information and poor tax service delivery was responsible for tax non-compliance. The study recommended that government should carry out tax education/information and tax awareness to taxpayers while tax officials should apply the concept of public management to tax service delivery