Abstract:
Tax compliance is viewed as the degree to which a taxpayer obliges to tax rules and
regulations. The purpose of the research was to establish the moderating role of
government training on the relationship between technology acceptance and tax
compliance of SMEs. The specific objectives were; to establish the effect of perceived
ease of use on tax compliance, to determine the effect of perceived usefulness on tax
compliance, to establish the effect of the social norm on tax compliance, and to
determine the moderating effect of government training on the relationship of
technology acceptance and tax compliance. The study was guided by the following
theories theory: Social Cognitive Theory, Technology Acceptance Model, and Theory
of Planned Behavior. The study was carried out in Nairobi CBD. The current study
adopted an explanatory research design. The target population was 98,608 licensed
SMEs in Nairobi County. Stratified random sampling was used. The sample size was
384. The study used a questionnaire as the primary data collection instrument. The
study finding indicated that perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, social norm
has a positive and significant association with tax compliance among small and
medium enterprises. The data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential
statistics. The results revealed that there was a positive and significant relationship
between perceived ease of use and tax compliance among small and medium
enterprises (β =.258, p=0.000<0.05), a positive and significant relationship between
perceived usefulness and tax compliance among small and medium enterprises (β
=.307, p=0.000<0.05) and a positive and significant relationship between social norm
and tax compliance among small and medium enterprises (β =.516, p=0.000<0.05). It
was further found that government training moderate Perceived ease (β =.165,
p<0.05), Perceived usefulness(β =.29, p<0.05) and Social norm(β =.284, p<0.05)
and tax compliance among small and medium enterprises where the R2
before
moderation was 51.9% but after moderation the R2
improved to 55.4% implying that
government training enhances tax compliance. The study concluded that perceived
ease of use, perceived usefulness and social norms positively affects tax compliance
among small and medium enterprises. It was concluded that government training
moderates the relationship between technology acceptance and tax compliance among
small and medium enterprises was accepted. The study recommended that properly
structured e-tax training for small and medium enterprise owners and managers is
required to enhance ease of use e-tax facilities. Many medium enterprise owners and
managers were not aware on how to use e-tax platforms and need to be trained for
ease and simplicity of using them. The study thus recommended for tax awareness
workshops among small and medium enterprises so as to acknowledge the importance
of being tax complaint.