ABSTRACT
This study assessed how Tax Audit and Investigation has ensured voluntary
compliance by tax payers in Nigeria. The study aimed to (i) examine the extent
to which tax audit and investigation has reduced tax evasion (ii) examine the
extent to which tax audit and investigation has assisted in voluntary compliance
by taxpayers (iii) examine whether there is any positive effect on the
introduction of self-assessment to the complexity of income tax administration.
(iv) examine the effect of inducement on tax officials in the performance of their
duty. The sample survey design was adopted for the study.
The population of the
study comprised 2500 registered taxpayers and 150 staff of FIRS Enugu. The
Taro Yamene’s (1964) method of sample size determination was used to
determine a sample of 348. The instruments used for data collection were
structured questionnaire and oral interviews. Simple percentage, mean scores,
standard deviation and co-efficient of variation were used in data presentation
and analysis. Hypotheses were tested at 10% level of significance using
student’s t-test statistic. The study revealed that the introduction of selfassessment
has played a major role in collection of taxes by adding credibility to
the process and that the absence of functional tax audit and investigation units is
largely the bane of non-compliance and tax evasion. Further studies are
recommended to be carried out on improving tax audit and investigation in
Nigeria.
