Bojuwon Mustapha, et al International Journal of Computer and Electronics Research [Volume 4, Issue 2, April 2015] ©http://ijcer.org e- ISSN: 2278-5795 p- ISSN: 2320-9348 Page 39 Evaluation of E-Tax Quality Implementation Criteria: The Case of Self-Employed Taxpayers Bojuwon Mustapha Department of Accounting Kulliyyah of Economic and Management Science International Islamic University Malaysia bojuwon@live.com Abstract−This paper examines the significant e-tax quality implementation criteria within the emerging economy by precisely focusing on self-employed taxpayers in Nigeria. This study employs quantitative method of analysis. A total of 181 data collected through convenience sampling was used for the analysis. The psychometric properties were assessed firstly using exploratory factor analysis in identifying the component, followed by confirmatory factor analysis to check for reliability and cross validation of the items. The result shows that the six components generated from the exploratory factor analysis are important criteria to the e-tax quality implementation criteria in the sequence of Compatibility, Tangible, Complexity, Reliability, and Ease of use and Affordability in Nigeria. The limitations are that this paper uses only quantitative method of analysis and the population is limited to individual income taxpayers who are self-employed. Also a small sample size is used for the study. The practical implication is for tax authority to consider the effective use of e-tax quality implementation criteria in Nigeria. Further study could consider extending to other taxpayers, such as corporate taxpayers and also increasing the sample size. Keywords: E-tax system, Compatibility, Reliability, Affordability, Tangible, Complexity and Ease of use 1. INTRODUCTION The introduction of the e - tax system as an innovation in Nigeria have influenced the way income taxpayers operate and comply with the filing of their income tax return. E-tax system introduction was as a result of the emergence of information technology to improve the level of tax compliance without the physical appearance at the tax office not having contact with the tax officers when filing their tax return [1, 2]. For the Federal Inland Revenue Service Board to empower taxpayers with the choice of using e-tax system has led to the reduction in the compliance cost, saves time of filing return and more confidence for the taxpayers [3-5]. In addition, to the tax authority, it reduces tax administration cost and improves the overall efficiency of the tax administration [6-8]. Based on the above benefits it is expected that the outcomes of implementing e-tax system would enhance tax compliance and increase revenue generation leading to taxpayers’ continuous usage of the e - tax system. The availability of the technology facilities does not fully guarantee taxpayers satisfaction with the implementation and use of e-tax system [9]. The quality of service provided with the technology is one of the criteria that determine the success or hindrance of e-tax system implementation [5, 10]. However, the e - tax system has been evaluated to have an effect on the taxpayers’ compliance level and revenue generation of a country [11]. This view is justified with existing literatures showing a dissatisfaction with e-tax system at the implementation stage through the emerging technology [12, 13]. The reason for the dissatisfaction of the e-tax system was said to be the level of readiness intern of the technology, slow network during the filing system and the level of system security to protect their tax related data are said to be contributing factors to their dissatisfaction to continue in using the e-tax system. Hence there is the need to address the issue which this study has added some variable to see the criteria to be used in evaluating the e-tax system. Therefore, taxpayers need to decide whether to adopt and use a specific system based on some evaluation criteria. This criterion will be directly evaluated in this study as an attribute of e-tax system implementation criteria in the context of Nigeria. From another point of view, taxpayers consider e-tax system to depend on some influencing variables that are relevant in the context of taxation. Saha, et al. [14] and Fu, et al. [15] has made effort to comprehend the measure of e-service quality in the banking sector with variables such as location and cards. The study concludes by using regression analysis to find the most influencing variables in that context. Other researchers' efforts focused on the adoption of e- filing, usage of e-filing and post adoption of e-tax filing [8, 16-19]. Hence, there has been limited how to evaluate e-tax system implementation criteria, which this study would like to address. This study measures are established from the existence of inconsistency in the dimension of e-tax filing [20] meaning that most of the developed measures will differ in dimensions, attributes and context of use. Also, the existing literature has been viewed from the tax officers and practitioners rather than the taxpayers’ perception of e- tax implementer [19, 21]. The Inland Revenue Service Board (tax authority) needs to understand how taxpayers evaluate the e-tax system as a foundation for improving their service. Generally, the study has called for more research on how to evaluate the e-tax system with the opinion of the small and medium enterprise [5, 14]. Thus, dimension such as; reliability, complexity, tangible, affordability, ease of use and complexity are used in this study as dimensions to evaluate the e-tax quality implementation criteria in Nigeria. Additionally, this study identifies the dimensions of e-tax quality implementation criteria with respect to the emergence of information technology in Nigeria. This study adapts and modified items to measure the e-tax quality implementation criterion variables used in the study. This study would assist taxpayers and tax authorities in understanding the importance of e-tax quality criteria. The remaining parts of the paper are arranged as follows: the next section explains relevant literatures on e-tax system implementation criteria. This is followed by the methodology starting with instrument reliability, confirmatory factor analysis. The study concludes with discussion, implications of the study, limitation and suggestions for future research. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW This paper is developed based on two theories integrated together. These theories are Theory of Acceptance model (TAM) by Davis (1989) and Diffusion Innovation Theory (DIT) by Rogers [22]. These two theories have their advantages if only provided that it encompasses and predict the perception of the adopter in terms of benefit and compatibility with their values [23, 24]. Theory of Acceptance model is an adaptation of Theory of Reason Action (TRA) and Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to the area of related information technology [25-27]. The integration of these theories would proclaim that the use of a new innovation is determined by the level of its compatibility, benefits, ease of use complexity, and reliability of the system which is also determined by their attitudes towards accepting the innovation [15, 28]. The ease of use, variable refers to the determination involved in