The Determinants of Tax Compliance Behavior Among Individual Taxpayers in Gombe State, Nigeria

The issue of tax non-compliance is a general phenomenon hampering efficient tax generation in both developed and underdeveloped nations. The contribution of income taxes to the total revenue of developing nations remained consistently low and is relatively decreasing because of low tax compliance particularly in African countries. Nigeria is an African and a developing nation that is facing the problem of low tax compliance, recently it lost about N950 billion in 2017 which represent almost 20 percent of its
target as a result of high tax non-compliance by taxpayers. The main objective of this study is to examine the factors that determine tax compliance among individual taxpayers and to determine the significant differences between demographic factors and tax compliance in Gombe State, Nigeria. For achieving these research objectives, the primary data were collected through self-administered questionnaire and were analysed using multiple regression analysis. The findings of the study reveal that corruption
and tax rate have a negative relationship with tax compliance and penalty has a significant positive relationship with tax compliance. On the other hand, the perception of government and religiosity do not have a significant effect on tax compliance. In relation to the second objective one way ANOVA and t-test were used and revealed that only educational level has a significant difference. Therefore, it is recommended for the policymakers to incorporate the perception of government, corruption, religiosity, tax rate and penalty as a model for a better understanding of the individual taxpayers’ compliance in Gombe state, Nigeria. It is recommended for the Gombe State policymakers to focus more on the significant factors as revealed in this research in the formulation of strategies and policies to improve tax compliance and ultimately can help to
reduce if not totally alleviate the problem of non-compliance in Gombe state, and Nigeria in general.