Determinants of Personal Income Tax Compliance: Perception of Nigerian Tax Payers

Abstract

This study examines the Determinants of Personal Income Tax Compliance. The study anchors on the fiscal exchange theory and social & psychological theory to predict the determinants of personal income tax compliance. The survey research design was adopted and questionnaire was distributed to elicit responses from self-employed persons. The ordered logistic regression was used to analyse the data gathered and was done electronically using the SPSS and Eviews 7 software. The findings show that there is a significant positive relationship between tax rate and personal income tax compliance; the perception of taxpayers’ of the Government of the day has a significant impact on how they comply with personal income taxation; taxpayers’ income has a significant impact on personal income tax compliance; the gender of the taxpayer has no significant positive relationship with his/her level of tax compliance; and the attitude of taxpayers to the tax system has a significant impact on personal income tax compliance. The study therefore concludes that the psychological aspects of taxpayers such as taxpayers’ perception and attitude have a more fundamental impact on personal income tax compliance than deterrent tax measures. Based on these, the study recommends amongst others that deterrent tax measures such as fines and penalties should incorporate the psychological aspect of taxpayers. That is, tax administrators should know when and how to combine strict deterrent measures with persuasive measures (education).