Hierarchical Component Model Approach on Tax Fairness, Public Governance Quality and Tax Compliance: A Mediating Role of Tax Morale

This study assesses the effect of tax fairness, public governance quality on tax compliance of MSEs in North-Eastern States of Nigeria through tax morale. The study population is 124,231 registered MSEs in North-Eastern states of Nigeria where sample of 527 MSEs was used. PLS-SEM was employed to ensure data analysis and hypotheses testing. Internal consistency reliability and validity checks were carried out to ensure that the measurement instrument is reliable and valid for data collection. The findings of the study revealed that direct assessment tax compliance is found to have been positively influenced by public governance quality and tax morale while, tax compliance was not significantly explained by tax fairness. Moreover, tax morale mediated the effect of public governance quality on tax compliance while no mediation was experience on tax system fairness and direct assessment tax compliance. Hence, the study contributed to the existing body of literature and tax authorities were adequately provided with an insight into improving tax compliance of direct assessment taxpayers through tax morale by public governance quality .