Investigating the relationship between tax officials and taxpayers: a study of domestic tax revenue division of the Ghana Revenue Authority in the Kumasi Metropolis

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Date
May, 2014
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Abstract
In December 2009, the Ghana Revenue Authority (G.R.A) was established and was committed to ensure efficiency in revenue mobilization. After the merger, little is known about the relationship that now exists between the tax official and the taxpayer. This study sought to look at the relationship whether improved or not in the Domestic Tax Revenue Division (D.T.R.D) of the G.R.A in the Kumasi Metropolis. The study was a cross-sectional explorative study of 200 individual taxpayers who have traded for two or more years with active files in the Kumasi metropolis and who were sampled using proportional allocation method of random sampling from each of the trading areas: Allabar, Roman Hill, Central Market and Kejetia. Appropriate statistical analyses such as frequencies, chi-square and logistic regression were employed. Results of the study revealed a positive relationship between taxpayers and tax officials. The bivariate analysis using cross-tabulation revealed that due payment of tax, tax process explanation, tolerance, collaboration and cooperation, knowledge of uses of taxes, knowledge of tax system, demand of money to reduce tax, demand of money to examine tax returns, patience, display of professionalism, politeness and preferential treatment significantly relates to taxpayers perception of their relationship with tax officials. The binary logistic regression analysis indicated that only due or prompt payment of taxes and knowledge of tax system made a unique statistically significant contribution to predicting a positive relationship between taxpayers and tax officials. The study recommends that tax authorities put persuasive measures in place to raise tax morale and also take tax education serious to increase the level of knowledge of taxpayers.
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A thesis submitted to the Department of Sociology and Social Work, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology.
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