Taxpayers Knowledge And Value Added Tax Compliance Among Micro And Small Enterprises In Embu County, Kenya

ABSTRACT

Despite efforts of the government to maximize on revenue collection through value added

taxes, it is indicated in literature that little has been achieved due to non-compliance to

value added tax regulation. Inability of tax institutions to meet revenue targets annually is

attributed and non-committal of micro and small scale traders to comply to value added tax

regulations are issue of concern. This study aimed at establishing the influence of

taxpayers΄ knowledge and value added tax compliance among Micro and Small

Enterprises in Embu county, Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were to establish

the effect of taxpayers’ education, taxpayers’ awareness, tax system structure and

taxpayers’ regulations on value added tax compliance among micro and small enterprise in

Embu County, Kenya. Theories adopted to inform this study included theory of planned

action, economic deterrent theory and rational choice theory. The study adopted crosssectional

research design since it facilitates discovery of new knowledge thus prediction

and control of the problem. The target population of the study was 557 micro and small

enterprises as per the records of Ministry of Trade in Embu County. Stratified sampling

technique was used to select the sample size of the population. To arrive at the ideal

sample size of 233, Israel scientific formula was adopted. Unit of analysis was registered

micro and small enterprises while unit of observation was owners of registered micro and

small enterprises in Embu County. The primary data was collected using a structured

questionnaire consisting of close and open-ended questions. In addition, secondary data

was collected using content analysis method where key themes of the published content

were reviewed to make deductive arguments on the findings of the study. The analysis of

data was done using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 24).

Descriptive statistics such as mean scores, standard deviation, frequency table and

percentages were used to analyze data. Further, inferential statistics such as coefficient of

determination (r2) was used to analyze data at 95% confidence level and 5% significance

level. The analyzed data was presented in tables and figures. The findings revealed that

there exists a positive significant relationship between taxpayers’ education (r = .616, p