Good Governance and Voluntary Tax Compliance Behaviour in Lagos State, Nigeria: An Empirical Analysis

Abstract

Globally, Voluntary Tax Compliance (VTC) behaviour level has become a major concern to policy makers, government and tax consultants. Constant loss of tax revenue due to bad governance, mistrust, or misrule are perceived to have adversely affected state economic growth, financial viability and infrastructural development. Many researches have been conducted on VTC behaviour, but not many considered the effect of Good Governance (GG) in their study. This study examined the probable influence of GG on taxpayers VTC behaviour in Lagos state, Nigeria. The study employed survey research design and random sampling techniques. Seven hundred and fifty questionnaire were administered for data gathering while 82.8% response rate was achieved. The study employed descriptive and inferential statistics to analyze the data at 5% level of significance. The study shows that GG positively influenced VTC among individual taxpayers in Lagos state, Nigeria (Adj. R2 =0.101, F(4, 619)=18.35, p=0.000). There was evidence that trust in government, transparency and rule of law have significant relationship with VTC behaviour in Lagos state, Nigeria while accountability has insignificant relationship with VTC behaviour. The study concluded that GG influenced individual VTC behaviour in Lagos state, Nigeria. Therefore, the mechanism for GG should be entrenched to reduce revenue loss. Also government should provide quality service with timely rendering of government account for citizens informed decision. Tax law should be simple, fair, and unambiguous. Above all, tax revenue should be invested on public goods of utmost importance while tax payment culture should be institutionalized.