Personal Income Tax Compliance in Nigeria: A Generalised Ordered Logistic Regression

Abstract

This paper builds on already existing theoretical and empirical research on the economic and psychological factors used in explaining tax compliance. The likelihood that personal income taxpayers in Nigeria will be tax non-compliant, low tax compliant or tax compliant for either economic or psychological factors and a combination of both factors are evaluated using the Generalised ordered logistic regression. The findings in this paper provide extra information on the mixed results that have been obtained by empirical research on the subject matter of tax compliance by revealing how economic and psychological factors have different likelihood values for individuals to fall into the tax compliant category. This paper recommends that a proper analysis of the peculiar traits of the Nigerian tax system be conducted before decisions are made on either of the economic or psychological factors to be employed, to move personal income taxpayers to the tax compliant category.