SMEs' View on the Theory of Planned Behaviour and Penalty Magnitude: Preliminary Findings from Nigeria

Purpose: This paper investigates the relationship between penalty magnitude, attitude towards VAT compliance, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control on VAT compliance intention among SMEs in Nigeria.Methodology: Data was gathered through administration of 30 questionnaires. The respondents are SMEs in Kano, Nigeria. 23 indicator items were measured on 5-point Likert Scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). IBM SPSS Statistics 23 was employed as the primary statistical analysis tool for the study.Findings: The result indicates positive relationship of penalty magnitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control on VAT compliance intention, while attitude towards VAT compliance has negative relationship with VAT compliance intention.Implications: This study recommends a blend of economic and socio-psychological factors in tackling VAT compliance among SMEs, as that will encourage the SMEs to remit the VAT collections and also assist the policy makers to map-out policies that would ensure an effective management of VAT revenue and compliance among SMEs in Nigeria and other developing countries. Further studies on a larger number of respondents should be conducted to test the consistency of the results.