Tax non-compliance is a fundamental issue of concern to all government and tax authorities that must be addressed to achieve sustainable revenue generation and good governance in developed and developing societies. This study investigated the moderating effects of tax knowledge on voluntary tax compliance of informal sector operators in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. The study employed cross sectional survey research design with a population of 30,450 informal sector operators and stratified sampling technique was adopted. Primary data was obtained from questionnaires after validity and reliability tests was carried out and the responses obtained from the administered questionnaire were analysed using univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis. The results from the analysis indicated a positive and significant relationship between general tax knowledge and voluntary tax compliance of informal sector operators in Bayelsa State, Nigeria; a positive and significant relationship between procedural tax knowledge and voluntary tax compliance of informal sector operators in Bayelsa State, Nigeria; a positive and significant relationship between legal tax knowledge and voluntary tax compliance of informal sector operators in Bayelsa State, Nigeria; and Public trusts positively and significantly moderates the relationship between tax knowledge and voluntary tax compliance of informal sector operators in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. The study concludes that tax knowledge influences voluntary tax compliance behaviour of taxpayers with public trusts as a moderator. Consequently, the study recommends amongst others that government and the relevantrevenue authorities should provide continuous accountability and transparency framework of government activities with practical trainings to taxpayers and fashion appropriate ways of recapturing public trust of taxpayers using both print and electronic media.
Keywords: general tax knowledge, legal tax knowledge, procedural tax knowledge, public trust, tax compliance
