TAX ADMINISTRATION AND VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE: A STUDY OF SELECTED STATE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE IN SOUTH-WEST NIGERIA

Abstract

This study examined the effect of tax administration and voluntary compliance of selected State Internal Revenue Service in Nigeria. The field survey research method was adopted for the study. Primary data obtained through the administration of structured questionnaire were used to test the hypotheses using regression analysis. The population of the study consisted of 4499 members of staff in tax revenue offices in South-west Nigeria. Three hundred and eighty-seven copies of questionnaires were administered while 382 (98.7%) were retrieved. The findings of the study revealed that tax administration of the selected Sate Internal Revenue Services has a significant effect on voluntary compliance (Adj.R2 = 0.160, F(3, 383) = 25.113, p < 0.05). The study concludes that Tax administration measured as Tax assessment (TASS), Tax remittance (TREM) and Tax collection (TCOL) had a significant effect on the Voluntary Compliance of taxpayers of selected State Internal Revenue Services in South-west Nigeria. The study recommends that State tax authorities should restructure their tax administration system in order to increase their efficiency and effectiveness in tax assessment, tax collection and tax remittance. This will make taxpayers voluntarily pay their taxes without using means of enforcements. Also, the State tax authorities should embark on training its staff on tax collections and not completely rely on the external agents in tax collections.