Tax Knowledge of Financial Managers and Compliance Culture in Nigerian Manufacturing Firms

This research examines the relationship between the tax knowledge of financial managers and the compliance culture within Nigerian manufacturing firms. Financial managers occupy a central role in determining whether a firm's tax obligations are accurately computed, timely remitted, and correctly disclosed in financial statements. Where tax knowledge is shallow, compliance errors, late filing penalties, and under-provision for tax liabilities are predictable outcomes. Using a professional PGD survey design, data are collected from 110 financial managers and chief finance officers at manufacturing companies in Lagos, Kaduna, and Aba. The questionnaire assesses tax knowledge across four dimensions: personal income tax, companies income tax, VAT, and withholding tax, and relates scores to firm-level compliance indicators including filing timeliness and audit adjustment frequency. Regression analysis is employed. The study expects to find a positive and significant relationship between financial manager tax knowledge scores and firm-level compliance culture, and that manufacturing firms employing professionally qualified accountants with specific tax training exhibit markedly fewer compliance errors. It further finds that ad hoc tax knowledge acquisition from FIRS circulars, rather than formal training, is the dominant knowledge source among sampled managers. Recommendations include requiring at least one CITN-qualified member in every company's finance department, integrating annual tax update training into corporate governance frameworks, and encouraging professional bodies to develop sector-specific tax knowledge certification modules for financial managers. Keywords: tax knowledge, financial managers, compliance culture, manufacturing, professional qualification.