Tax education and self-employed compliance in Nigeria: Evidence from imo state

Nigeria's desired economic growth and infrastructural development may not be ensured through continued dependence on fossil fuels. Diversifying revenue sources away from oil is now crucial. Taxation is a crucial revenue source, but effective tax systems depend on high voluntary compliance levels. This study focused on how tax education affects returns filing compliance among self-employed taxpayers in Nigeria's informal sector. This research, conducted in Owerri Municipality, Imo State, adopted a cross-sectional survey design. The population was 1,005 self-employed personal income taxpayers/potential taxpayers who participated in personal income tax education programmes. A sample of 237 respondents was selected through convenience and purposive sampling methods. Data collection was through structured questionnaire. Descriptive, inferential and causal analyses were conducted using Pearson’s correlation and simple linear regression. Findings indicated that targeted tax education dimensions - legal tax education [LTE (r=.493, P<0.05); (β_0=0.444,β_1=0.317,t=6.889,p=0.000)], procedural tax education [PTE (r=.286, P<0.05); (β_0=0.136,β_1=0.102,t=1.675,p=0.015)], and electronic tax education [ETE (r=.322, P<0.05); (β_0=0.009,β_1=0.007,t=0.103,p=0.018)]— positively and significantly affected returns filing compliance (RFC), whereas general tax education [GTE (r = -.045, P> 0.05); (β_0=-0.031,β_1=-0.002,t=-0.542,p=0.588)] had a negative and non-significant effect. Findings further showed that GTE, LTE, PTE and ETE accounted for 0.2%, 24.4%, 26.2% and 26.2% respectively. This study concludes that general tax education does not support self-employed taxpayers to comply, whereas a targeted tax education is more effective. This study recommends that targeted tax education, such as legal, procedural, and electronic tax education programmes, be provided and tailored to the specific characteristics and tax needs of self-employed taxpayers in both existing and prospective business communities to enhance compliance and increase revenue generation.