Electronic Media Taxpayer Education and Monthly Rental Income Tax Adherence Among Residential Landlords in Bungoma County, Kenya
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Monthly rental income tax compliance remains a practical concern in Kenya because weak compliance constrains domestic revenue mobilization and shifts the burden onto compliant taxpayers. This article examined the influence of electronic media taxpayer education on monthly rental income tax adherence among residential landlords in Bungoma County, Kenya. The article was guided by Fiscal Exchange Theory and Social Influence Theory, with tax awareness, organizational trustworthiness, and digital competence serving as explanatory mechanisms to interpret the relationship. The research adopted a descriptive research design. From the target population of 153,653 residential rental property owners, a sample of 399 landlords was obtained using Yamane's formula and stratified random sampling. Structured questionnaires generated 326 usable responses. (Urban Planning Challenges and Community Resilience: An Empirical Assessment of Disaster Vulnerabilities in Bungoma Municipality, 2023, pp. 100-110) Data were examined using descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, Pearson correlation, and simple linear regression. Results showed that electronic media taxpayer education had a strong, positive, and statistically significant relationship with monthly rental income tax adherence, r = .838, p < .001. Regression results further indicated that electronic media taxpayer education explained 70.2% of the variation in adherence (R² = .702), F (1, 324) = 765.047, p < .001. The article concluded that radio, television, SMS alerts, email alerts, social media, and the KRA website can strengthen adherence when messages are timely, credible, and easy to act on. The article recommends segmented electronic taxpayer education that combines deadline-based reminders, radio explanations, verified social media updates, and simplified online guidance.
Downloads
References
Abdul, F., & Wang'ombe, D. (2018). Tax compliance behavior and institutional trust among taxpayers. Journal of Accounting and Taxation, 10(1), 1-10.
Abina, S., Amaning, N., Osei Anim, R., Kyere, A., & Kwakye, G. (2021). Tax compliance among Ghanaian SMEs: How impactful is taxpayer education? International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, 10(4), 40-58. https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARAFMS/v10-i4/8332
Alm, J., Kirchler, E., & Muehlbacher, S. (2012). Combining psychology and economics in the analysis of compliance: From enforcement to cooperation. Economic Analysis and Policy, 42(2), 133-151.
Bird, R. M., Martinez-Vazquez, J., & Torgler, B. (2008). Tax effort in developing countries and high-income countries: The impact of corruption, voice and accountability. Economic Analysis and Policy, 38(1), 55-71.
Braithwaite, V. (2003). Dancing with tax authorities: Motivational postures and non-compliant actions. In V. Braithwaite (Ed.), Taxing democracy: Understanding tax avoidance and evasion (pp. 15-39). Ashgate.
Bryman, A. (2016). Social research methods (5th ed.). Oxford University Press.
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Dillman, D. A., Smyth, J. D., & Christian, L. M. (2014). Internet, phone, mail, and mixed-mode surveys: The tailored design method (4th ed.). Wiley.
Field, A. (2018). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS Statistics (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Gichohi, P., & Muchira, B. (2023). Digital literacy and adoption of electronic tax services among taxpayers in Kenya. African Journal of Business and Management, 9(2), 43-52.
Hidayati, N., Hermanto, H., & Nnamdi, O. (2023). Tax awareness and tax compliance among taxpayers: Evidence from education-based interventions. Journal of Taxation and Public Finance, 7(2), 44-59.
James, S., & Alley, C. (2002). Tax compliance, self-assessment and tax administration. Journal of Finance and Management in Public Services, 2(2), 27-42.
Kamau, J., & Njeru, A. (2022). Rental income tax compliance among property owners in informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya. African Journal of Business and Economic Research, 17(2), 89-106.
Kelman, H. C. (1958). Compliance, identification, and internalization: Three processes of attitude change. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 2(1), 51-60.
Kenya. (2025). Tax awareness and electronic taxpayer education in Kenya. Government Printer.
Kenya Revenue Authority. (2024). Overview of monthly rental income tax. Kenya Revenue Authority.
Kothari, C. R. (2004). Research methodology: Methods and techniques (2nd ed.). New Age International Publishers.
KRA introduces eRITS for digital rental tax filing. (2025). Kenya Revenue Authority.
Macharia, P., & Koske, N. (2022). Taxpayer awareness and tax compliance among motor-vehicle spare-parts traders in Nakuru Town, Kenya. Journal of Accounting, Finance and Taxation Studies, 8(1), 23-38.
Maina, M., & Muturi, W. (2021). Determinants of residential rental income tax compliance among property owners in Nairobi County, Kenya. International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management, 9(6), 112-130.
Maru, R. (2019). Tax awareness and compliance behavior among rental income taxpayers in Kenya. Journal of Public Finance and Taxation, 5(1), 41-56.
McKerchar, M., & Evans, C. (2009). Sustaining growth in developing economies through improved taxpayer compliance: Challenges for policy makers and revenue authorities. eJournal of Tax Research, 7(2), 171-201.
Mohajan, H. K. (2017). Two criteria for good measurements in research: Validity and reliability. Annals of Spiru Haret University, 17(3), 59-82.
Mugenda, O. M., & Mugenda, A. G. (2003). Research methods: Quantitative and qualitative approaches. Acts Press.
Muniu, S., & Musau, E. (2025). Institutional trust and electronic tax compliance among rental income taxpayers in Kenya. Journal of Tax Administration and Policy, 11(1), 21-36.
Mutua, J., & Kamau, P. (2021). Rental income tax literacy and compliance among urban property owners in Nairobi, Kenya. Journal of Accounting and Taxation Studies, 13(4), 62-78.
Nguyen, T., Pham, H., & Tran, L. (2021). Digital literacy and adoption of electronic tax services among taxpayers. Journal of Public Administration and Digital Governance, 4(2), 77-92.
OECD. (2015). Building tax culture, compliance and citizenship: A global source book on taxpayer education. OECD Publishing.
Otieno, D., & Muriuki, P. (2023). Residential rental income tax compliance and taxpayer education in Kenya. African Journal of Accounting and Taxation, 8(2), 65-82.
Rental Income Tax - KRA. (2024). Kenya Revenue Authority.
Resnik, D. B. (2018). The ethics of research with human subjects: Protecting people, advancing science, promoting trust. Springer.
Taherdoost, H. (2016). Validity and reliability of the research instrument: How to test the validation of a questionnaire or survey in research. International Journal of Academic Research in Management, 5(3), 28-36.
Tavakol, M., & Dennick, R. (2011). Making sense of Cronbach's alpha. International Journal of Medical Education, 2, 53-55. https://doi.org/10.5116/ijme.4dfb.8dfd
Torgler, B. (2007). Tax compliance and tax morale: A theoretical and empirical analysis. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Wanjala, L., Were, M., & Odhiambo, S. (2022). Digital tax literacy interventions and voluntary tax compliance in Kenya. Journal of Public Finance and Tax Administration, 6(1), 71-88.
Yamane, T. (1967). Statistics: An introductory analysis (2nd ed.). Harper and Row.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
All articles published in our journal are licensed under CC-BY 4.0, which permits authors to retain copyright of their work. This license allows for unrestricted use, sharing, and reproduction of the articles, provided that proper credit is given to the original authors and the source.