IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jjrfmx/v15y2022i9p407-d913345.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effect of Tax Fairness, Peer Influence, and Moral Obligation on Sales Tax Evasion among Jordanian SMEs

Author

Listed:
  • Nayef Mohammad Al-Rahamneh

    (Tunku Puteri Intan Safinaz School of Accountancy (TISSA-UUM), Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), Sintok 06010, Kedah, Malaysia)

  • Zainol Bidin

    (Tunku Puteri Intan Safinaz School of Accountancy (TISSA-UUM), Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), Sintok 06010, Kedah, Malaysia)

Abstract

Tax evasion remains a complex issue for tax authorities, policymakers, and researchers. While socio-psychological factors have been researched, their impact on tax evasion among SMEs has not yet been determined. This paper empirically analyses the effects of tax fairness, peer influence and moral obligation, on sales tax evasion among Jordanian SME owners/managers. A survey was used to obtain data from three regions of Jordan (north, middle, south). Random sampling was utilized in selecting the prospective respondents from SMEs in three sectors (trade, service, manufacturing). A total of 212 usable questionnaires retrieved from the SMEs were analysed using Smart-PLS 3.0. The results revealed that tax fairness and moral obligation had a significant negative effect on sales tax evasion behaviour among SME owner-managers. On the other hand, peer influence positively and significantly impacted sales tax evasion behaviour. Thus, policymakers and tax authorities should incorporate these factors in developing effective strategies to reduce tax evasion in Jordan, which could result in an improvement in the country’s overall revenue collection. The findings also contribute to the scarcity of literature about the significance of socio-psychological factors in mitigating tax evasion by examining the effects of tax fairness, peer influence, and moral obligation on sales tax evasion.

Suggested Citation

  • Nayef Mohammad Al-Rahamneh & Zainol Bidin, 2022. "The Effect of Tax Fairness, Peer Influence, and Moral Obligation on Sales Tax Evasion among Jordanian SMEs," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-15, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jjrfmx:v:15:y:2022:i:9:p:407-:d:913345
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1911-8074/15/9/407/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1911-8074/15/9/407/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Erstu Tarko Kassa, 2021. "Factors influencing taxpayers to engage in tax evasion: evidence from Woldia City administration micro, small, and large enterprise taxpayers," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 1-16, December.
    2. James Alm & Benno Torgler, 2011. "Do Ethics Matter? Tax Compliance and Morality," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(4), pages 635-651, July.
    3. Lumir Abdixhiku, Geoff Pugh, Iraj Hashi, 2018. "Business Tax Evasion in Transition Economies: A Cross-Country Panel Investigation," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 15(1), pages 11-36, June.
    4. Savaş Çevik & Harun Yeniçeri, 2013. "The Relationship between Social Norms and Tax Compliance: The Moderating Role of the Effectiveness of Tax Administration," International Journal of Economic Sciences, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2013(3).
    5. Robert W. McGee (ed.), 2012. "The Ethics of Tax Evasion," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-1-4614-1287-8, March.
    6. Torgler, Benno & Demir, Ihsan C. & Macintyre, Alison & Schaffner, Markus, 2008. "Causes and Consequences of Tax Morale: An Empirical Investigation," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 313-339, September.
    7. Diana Onu & Lynne Oats & Erich Kirchler & Andre Julian Hartmann, 2019. "Gaming the System: An Investigation of Small Business Owners’ Attitudes to Tax Avoidance, Tax Planning, and Tax Evasion," Games, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-17, November.
    8. Philmore Alleyne & Terry Harris, 2017. "Antecedents of taxpayers’ intentions to engage in tax evasion: evidence from Barbados," Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 15(1), pages 2-21, April.
    9. Torgler, Benno, 2006. "The importance of faith: Tax morale and religiosity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 81-109, September.
    10. Reinartz, Werner & Haenlein, Michael & Henseler, Jörg, 2009. "An empirical comparison of the efficacy of covariance-based and variance-based SEM," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 332-344.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Richard Agbanyo & Godwin Musah & James Ntiamoah Doku & Joseph Quarshie & Nyuregbee Yahbewobr Dery, 2024. "Perceived political corruption and tax compliance intentions among private enterprises in emerging economies: The roles of tax morale and tax tolerance in Ghana," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(4), pages 2063-2095, May.
    2. Teodora Roman & Nicu Marcu & Valentina Diana Rusu & Erika Maria Doacă & Adelina Andreea Siriteanu, 2023. "Tax Payment and the Performance of SMEs: A Longitudinal Analysis on EU Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-15, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pickhardt, Michael & Prinz, Aloys, 2014. "Behavioral dynamics of tax evasion – A survey," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 1-19.
    2. Colin C. Williams, 2023. "A Modern Guide to the Informal Economy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 18668, March.
    3. Khalil, Sandra & Sidani, Yusuf, 2020. "The influence of religiosity on tax evasion attitudes in Lebanon," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 40(C).
    4. Konstantinos Fotiadis & Prodromos Chatzoglou, 2022. "The tax morale of exhausted taxpayers. The case of Greece," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 354-377, September.
    5. Rajat Deb & Sourav Chakraborty, 2017. "Tax Perception and Tax Evasion," IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, , vol. 6(2), pages 174-185, July.
    6. Colin C. Williams & Slavko Bezeredi, 2018. "An Institutional Theory Of Informal Entrepreneurship: Some Lessons From Fyr Macedonia," Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 23(03), pages 1-22, September.
    7. Koessler, Ann-Kathrin & Torgler, Benno & Feld, Lars P. & Frey, Bruno S., 2019. "Commitment to pay taxes: Results from field and laboratory experiments," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 78-98.
    8. Tomasz Mickiewicz & Anna Rebmann & Arnis Sauka, 2019. "To Pay or Not to Pay? Business Owners’ Tax Morale: Testing a Neo-Institutional Framework in a Transition Environment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(1), pages 75-93, June.
    9. Ross Adriana M. & McGee Robert W., 2011. "Attitudes toward Tax Evasion: A Demographic Study of Malaysia," Asian Journal of Law and Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 2(3), pages 1-51, October.
    10. Adriana AnaMaria Davidescu & Eduard Mihai Manta & Adina Teodora Stoica-Ungureanu & Magdalena Anton (Musat), 2022. "Could Religiosity and Religion Influence the Tax Morale of Individuals? An Empirical Analysis Based on Variable Selection Methods," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(23), pages 1-32, November.
    11. Ahmad Farhan Alshira’h & Moh’d Alsqour & Abdalwali Lutfi & Adi Alsyouf & Malek Alshirah, 2020. "A Socio-Economic Model of Sales Tax Compliance," Economies, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-15, October.
    12. Ioana Alexandra Horodnic & Colin C. Williams, 2016. "An evaluation of the shadow economy in Baltic states: a tax morale perspective," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 28(2/3), pages 339-358.
    13. Fadi Alasfour, 2019. "Costs of Distrust: The Virtuous Cycle of Tax Compliance in Jordan," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 243-258, March.
    14. Gabriel Leonardo & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2016. "Politicians, bureaucrats, and tax morale: What shapes tax compliance attitudes?," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1608, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    15. Colin C. Williams & Ioana A. Horodnic, 2015. "Explaining and tackling the shadow economy in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania: a tax morale approach," Baltic Journal of Economics, Baltic International Centre for Economic Policy Studies, vol. 15(2), pages 81-98.
    16. Philipp Doerrenberg & Andreas Peichl, 2013. "Progressive taxation and tax morale," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 155(3), pages 293-316, June.
    17. Mohammad Nurunnabi, 2018. "Tax evasion and religiosity in the Muslim world: the significance of Shariah regulation," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 371-394, January.
    18. Sørensen, Jens Fyhn Lykke, 2011. "Undeclared work: A dark side of social trust?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 888-894.
    19. Luca Di Gialleonardo & Mauro Marè & Antonello Motroni & Francesco Porcelli, 2020. "Family Ties and the Pandemic: Some Evidence from Sars-CoV-2," Working papers 100, Società Italiana di Economia Pubblica.
    20. Barbara Culiberg & Domen Bajde, 2014. "Do You Need a Receipt? Exploring Consumer Participation in Consumption Tax Evasion as an Ethical Dilemma," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(2), pages 271-282, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jjrfmx:v:15:y:2022:i:9:p:407-:d:913345. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.