ENHANCING TAX FRAUD DETECTION THROUGH FORENSIC ACCOUNTING: THE MODERATING EFFECT OF TRAINING IN NIGERIA'S FEDERAL INLAND REVENUE SERVICE

Abstract

Tax fraud remains a critical challenge to revenue mobilization and national development, particularly in Nigeria, where the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) faces complex fraud schemes, an expansive informal sector, and institutional capacity gaps. This study examines how forensic accounting enhances tax fraud detection within the FIRS, with a specific focus on the moderating role of training. The study's objectives include evaluating the influence of ethics and integrity skills, assessing the effect of database management skills, and analyzing how training moderates their impact on fraud detection. A quantitative research design was employed using census sampling across 190 FIRS staff in audit, enforcement, and compliance departments. Data were analyzed using SPSS and Hayes' (2018) PROCESS macro to conduct moderation analysis. Findings reveal that both ethics and integrity skills (β = 0.5527, p < .001) and database management skills (β = 0.1399, p < .05) significantly affect fraud detection. Training emerged as a significant moderator, with its presence enhancing or compensating for lower skill levels. However, as training levels increased, the individual effect of ethics and database skills slightly diminished, demonstrating a compensatory moderation effect. The study concludes that technical and behavioral competencies must be reinforced through structured training initiatives. It recommends mandatory ethics education, modern database skill acquisition, and collaboration with academic and professional institutions to design cross-functional training for FIRS personnel.

Keywords: Tax fraud detection, forensic accounting.