Assessing the behavioural intention of informal small and medium scale businesses towards payment of presumptive tax in Nigeria

Abstract

This study examines the behavioural intention of informal small and medium scale businesses using social commerce platform towards payment of presumptive tax in Nigeria. The study critically assessed the behavioural intention through the instrumentalities of Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). Specifically, attitudes, perceived behavioural control and subjective norms were evaluated as predictors to the behavioural intention. Survey questionnaire was designed to obtain data from 239 respondents operating social commerce cutting across two states in Nigeria namely Bauchi and Gombe states. The sample was drawn using the hybrid of stratified and snowballing sampling procedure. Three hypotheses formulated were tested using the outcomes of the statistical analysis. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to test the direct relationship between the study variables. The findings of the study revealed that, attitude, perceived behavioural control and subjective norms were significant predictors of behavioural intention to pay presumptive tax. Specifically, the major implication of this study is that, behavioural intention to pay presumptive tax is strongly influenced by the trio of attitude, behavioural control and subjective norms. The study recommends that, tax authorities should imbibe and inculcate positive attitudes on the SMEs operating in the informal sector by engaging in dialogue and opening new frontiers for consultation and advocacy to enable the operators appreciate the essentials of discharging civic responsibilities of tax payment. This is pertinent in squarely addressing the problems of tax evasion and avoidance especially among the taxpayers operating outside the formal framework of authorities. The limitation of this study is that, only social commerce operators were considered and that, TPB alone might not dispassionately show the obvious constructs influencing the intention of the taxpayers. Future research effort should consider other businesses in the entire e-commerce ecosystem by using the modified model of TPB and TAM.