POLICY TELEOLOGY AND VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE IN THE NIGERIAN TAX ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM

Abstract

Taxation remains the principal instrument through which governments mobilize domestic revenue, finance public expenditure and promote sustainable economic development. In Nigeria, recent tax reforms culminating in the enactment of some critical Acts [the Nigeria Tax Act, Nigeria Tax Administration Act, Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, and Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act (2025] introduced a new institutional framework aimed at expanding the tax base, strengthening taxpayer identification, improving administrative coordination and enhancing revenue mobilization (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2025a, 2025b, 2025c, 2025d). Despite these reforms, voluntary tax compliance is not contingent on strengthening taxpayer identification through expansion of the tax base, otherwise the apprehension that led to the deferment of the implementation timeline would have been insignificant. But it was not and that led to the eventual postponement to give room for more input and advocacy. This study thus examines policy teleologism and voluntary compliance using the conceptual arguments of the 2(SC) which are considered the pillars of a progressive tax administration regime. A supplied synthetic questionnaire dataset of 250 respondents was used and analyzed through six composite constructs: Tax ID Expansion, Tax Knowledge, Public Trust, Policy Uncertainty, Administrative Complexity and Voluntary Compliance. Descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression were used to assess the relationships among the constructs. The results show that Tax Knowledge (r = 0.471), Public Trust (r = 0.349) and Tax ID Expansion (r = 0.291) are positively associated with voluntary compliance, while Policy Uncertainty (r = −0.329) and Administrative Complexity (r = −0.246) are negatively associated with it. The regression model is statistically significant and explains 33.7% of the variance in voluntary compliance (R² = 0.337). Tax Knowledge, Public Trust, Tax ID Expansion and Policy Uncertainty are significant predictors, while Administrative Complexity is not significant after controlling for the other variables. The findings support the 2(SC) Framework—Sustainability, Simplicity, Clarity and Certainty—as a practical orientation for strengthening taxpayer-centred administration. Because the supplied dataset is explicitly synthetic, the statistical findings should be treated as an empirical illustration to guide policy makers in making informed decisions.