AN ASSESSMENT OF THE SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES COMPLIANCE ON THE USE OF ELECTRONIC FISCAL DEVICES IN TANZANIA A CASE OF DAR ES SALAAM CITY

Abstract

ABSTRACT Compliance towards the use of electronic fiscal devices (EFDs) among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has been a challenge towards response by the enteprises since the enactment of the decision by the government to this day. At first the concerns seemed to be influenced by policy issues such as charges imposed to the machines and the quality of the machines prior to the outputs generated that the government issued reforms in favour of the needs and wants of the enterprises but still complance has been a problem to this day. The study assessed small and medium enterprises (SMEs) compliance on the use of electronic fiscal devices (EFDs) in Tanzania. The central objective of this research is to evaluate the factors affecting SMEs’ adherence to EFDs use for revenue collection in Tanzania. Three specific objectives guided the investigation: first, to analyze the influence of taxpayers’ perceptions on compliance with EFD usage in revenue collection; second, to determine the impact of awareness levels on compliance with EFD usage; and third, to ascertain the effect of monitoring strategies on compliance with EFD usage. The study was informed by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Forced Compliance Theory, providing theoretical frameworks for the variables under consideration. Employing an explanatory research design, the study utilized causal relationship testing to generate knowledge. Primary data were collected from owners and employees of SMEs, serving as respondents within a purposively selected sample of 100 participants. Data analysis involved descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS version 23, facilitating the generation of statistical tests, including multiple regression analysis, to define the relationships between study variables. The findings indicate that all three predictor variables taxpayers' perceptions, awareness levels, and monitoring strategies exhibited a statistically significant positive influence on SMEs' compliance, as the dependent variable, with p < 0.05. This suggests that SMEs’ adherence to EFD usage is substantially influenced by taxpayers’ perceptions, their level of awareness, and the monitoring strategies employed.