Journal Screenshot

International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2225-8329

Economic Factors Impact on Individual Taxpayers’ Tax Compliance Behaviour in Malaysia

Nivakan Sritharan, Sahari Salawati

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARAFMS/v9-i2/6166

Open access

Individual tax payers’ tax compliance is influenced by several factors. One of the major factors, the Economic factor, is studied in this paper. Readings with similar topics emphasises that there still exists a gap in the developing countries. Malaysia is a multi-racial country with economic factors to influence on tax compliance. Some of the factors impacting are: probability of being audited, perception on government spending, perception on equity and fairness and penalty rates, which are considered to be playing an important role on individual tax compliance behaviour. The researcher used survey method of research design and targeted the individual tax payers across Malaysia as population. A sample of 419 respondents had been taken for this study, using convenient sampling method. Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis had been employed to analyse the data. The results of the study disclose that probability of being audited, perception on government spending, penalty rate and an individual’s personal financial position are the main important variables that influence individual tax payers’ tax compliance behaviour in Malaysia. This paper studied economic factor variables, which finally fills the gap existed in the literature and contributes as a justification for policymakers.

1. Ahangar, R., Bandpey, H., & Rokny, H. (2011). An Investigation into the determinant of effective factors on tax evasion (Empirical study of Iran Tax Affairs Organisation). American Journal of Scientific research, 5(2), 99-113.
2. Ahmed, A., & Kedir, S. (2015). Tax Compliance and its Determinant: The Case of Jimma Zone, Ethiopia. International Journal of Research in Social Sciences, 6(2), 2-15.
3. Alabede, J., Ariffin, Z., & Idris, K. (2011). Determinants of tax compliance behaviour: A proposed model for Nigeria. International Research Journal of Finance and Economics, 78(11), 5-11.
4. Allingham, M.G., and Sandmo, A. (1972). Income tax evasion: A theoretical analysis. Journal of Public Economics, 1(4), 323-38.
5. Bhavish, J., Hema, S., Akshay, S., & Himanshu, K. (2017). Tax evasion and economic growth: Evidence from Mauritius. SSRN Electronic Journal, 3(2). 19-26.
6. Brooks, R. (2001). Race, income, and perceptions of the U.S. court system. Race, income, and perceptions of the U.S. court system, 19(2). 20-35.
7. Ching, S.P., (2013). Determinants of tax non-compliance in Malaysia (Master Dissertation). Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia.
8. Chukwudi, D. (2017). Determinants of Tax Compliance under the Self-Assessment System in Private Secondary Schools: Evidence from Delta North Senatorial Zone. Research Journal of Finance and Accounting, 9(7), 10-17.
9. Cohen, S.S. (1966). To tax and to please - the greatness of the United States, National Industrial Conference, Board of New York, 15 December, 268-272.
10. Dubin, J. A (2012). The causes and consequences of income tax non-compliance. New York: Springer.
11. Eriksen, K., & Fallan, L. (1996). Tax knowledge and attitudes towards taxation; A report on a quasi-experiment. Journal of Economic Psychology, 17(3), 387-402.
12. Fagbemi, T.O., Uadiale, O.M. and Noah, A.O. (2010). The Ethics of Tax Evasion: Perceptual Evidence from Nigeria. European Journal of Social Sciences, 5(3), 360-371.
13. Elffers, H., Robben, S.J., and Hessing, D.J. (1992). On measuring tax evasion. Journal of Economic Psychology, 13, 545–567.
14. Evans, C., Carlon, S., and Massey, D. (2005). Record keeping practices and tax compliance of SMEs. eJournal of Tax Research, 3(2) ,288-334.
15. Gërxhani, K. (2007). Explaining Gender Differences in Tax Evasion: The Case of Tirana, Albania. Feminist Economics, 13(2), 119-155.
16. Grewal, I. (2018, December 06). Responsibilities of Individual Income Tax - 3E Accounting Malaysia. Retrieved April 5, 2019, from https://www.3ecpa.com.my/resources/malaysia-taxation/ individual-income-tax/responsibilities-of-individual/
17. Hanefah, M. (1996). An Evaluation of the Malaysian Tax Administrative System and Taxpayers Perceptions towards Assessment System, Tax Law Fairness and Tax Law Complexity (Doctoral Dissertation). Universiti Utara Malaysia, Malaysia.
18. Hong, T.J. (2005). Statistical Techniques in Business Research: A Practical Approach. Kuala Lumpur: Pearson Prentice Hall.
19. Inland Revenue Board. (2018). Resident Individual. Retrieved September 24, 2018, from http://www.hasil.gov.my
20. Jackson. B.R., and Milliron, V.C. (1986). Tax compliance research: Findings, problems, and prospects. Journal of Accounting Literature, 5 (7), 125-65.
21. Junainah, J. (2002). Self-assessment system: A case study on perception of personal taxpayers in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah (Master of Accounting dissertation). Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
22. Kasipillai, J., & Shanmugam, M. (1995). Malaysia: Towards a 2020 Vision of Taxation. Asia Pacific Tax Bulletin, 1(12), 5-15.
23. Kasipillai, J. (2002). Investigations and tax audit under the self-assessment system. The Chartered Secretary Malaysia, 16(22), 5-7.
24. Kasipillai, J. (2004). Malaysia: 2003 Year in Review. Tax Notes International, 33(1), 7-15.
25. Kirchler, E., Hoelzl, E., & Wahl, I. (2008). Enforced versus voluntary tax compliance: The ‘‘slippery slope’’ framework. Journal of Economic Psychology, 29 (2), 21

To cite this article: Sritharan, N., Salawati, S. (2019). Economic Factors Impact on Individual Taxpayers’ Tax Compliance Behaviour in Malaysia, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences 9 (2): 172-182