Study on the effectiveness of tax payer education as a revenue collection strategy in KRA
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Date
01-09-18
Authors
Rotich, Patrick Kipkemoi
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
KESRA/JKUAT - Unpublished research project
Abstract
Taxpayer education can be described as a method of educating the people about the whole process of taxation and why they should pay tax. It assists taxpayers in meeting their tax obligations to the government. This means that the primary existence of taxpayer education is to encourage voluntary compliance amongst taxpayers. Taxpayer education program serves to: create taxpayer awareness of laws and procedures, educate taxpayers on their tax responsibilities and rights, assist and motivate taxpayer to comply voluntarily, assist taxpayers on reporting the correct income and amount of tax, maintaining close relationship between the tax authority and the taxpayer continuously, and, instill public confidence in taxation system. It is expected that, tax education will assist taxpayers to understand tax laws and procedures as well as creating positive tax compliance attitude. It was envisaged, that with an electronic filing system implemented, KRA will increase revenue collection, reduce the time taken in verification of manual data, reduce operational costs, and thereby channel and dedicate more time to taxpayer education to increase the rate of compliance. There is a paucity of published work on the effectiveness of tax payer education as a revenue collection strategy in KRA, particularly in the context of developing countries in the dynamic African region and specifically in Kenya. This study intended to bridge this gap in knowledge that exists. The objective of this study was to establish the effectiveness of tax payer education as a revenue collection strategy in KRA focusing on Nairobi region. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The target population was the four different KRA regions in Nairobi, namely Nairobi North, Nairobi East, Nairobi West, and Nairobi South. Simple random sampling was applied in order to randomly pick 120 respondents who participated in the study. The study relied on data collected through questionnaires structured to meet the objectives of the study. Responses were tabulated, coded and processed by use of a computer Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20.0 program to analyze the data. The study found that there exists a relationship between staff training, stakeholder sensitization program, and media education and revenue collection strategies in KRA. Therefore, study concludes that staff training, stakeholder sensitization program, and media education are statistically significant and they therefore influence revenue collection strategy in KRA. The study recommends that there is need for the more training on the reforms and modernization at KRA should be offered so as to improve on the skills, knowledge and professional capacity of the employees. This will improve service delivery in terms of clearance and increased revenue; KRA should also focus on maintaining a good corporate image to ensure that its training programs are perceived in good light by the tax- paying public; KRA should strive to facilitate participation by all sectors and categories of taxpayers. There is also need to conduct a study on the challenges facing tax payer education and sensitization in Kenya.
Description
Keywords
Tax, Tax Education