Abstract
The persistent low level of tax compliance among informal sector operators has continued to
constrain the revenue-generating capacity of state governments in Nigeria. Consequently, this
study was carried out to examine the effect of taxpayers’ compliance behaviour on revenue
generation in the informal sector of Akwa Ibom State. The study population comprised 12,000
registered business owners from the informal sector in Akwa Ibom State and 385 informal sector
operators were purposively selected as the sample. Primary data were obtained through the
administration of a structured questionnaire to informal sector operators in Akwa Ibom State. The
data collected were analysed using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression analysis and the
statistical package used was SPSS Statistics version 27. The findings revealed that timely tax
payment (β = 0.432, p = 0.033); tax record keeping (β = 0.577, p = 0.008); accurate income
declaration (β = 0.338, p = 0.028) all had significant positive effects on revenue generation. The
study concluded that taxpayers’ compliance behaviour was significantly associated with revenue
generation from the informal sector of Akwa Ibom State. The study recommended that the Akwa
Ibom State Internal Revenue Service should strengthen taxpayer education programmes, simplify
tax compliance procedures, promote timely tax payment and encourage accurate income
declaration