Abstract
While many factors influence tax compliance behaviour, this study aims to examine the effect of the quality of tax services on the compliance behaviour of small and medium-sized enterprises. The study used the survey to test five hypotheses with the aid of frequency tables, regression and correlation analyses. The study found statistically significant positive effects of reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy on the tax compliance behaviour of SMEs. Secondly, there are varying positive correlations amongst key tax service quality measures. The research has several implications for taxing authorities and policy makers due to its effect on tax revenue generation for economic growth and development. The novelty of this paper lies in its premier attempt to enrich the literature on the tax service quality- tax compliance behaviour nexus with the adoption of Parasuraman et al. (1988)’s service quality indicators. In employing these tax service quality indicators, a better understanding is gained into tax non-compliance behaviour, which emanates from poor service quality. The findings provide some insights to taxing authorities and policy makers in drafting policies to enhance tax compliance by improving, digitising and modernising tax administration for maximum revenue mobilisation to drive economic growth.
Highlights
Many emerging economies, including Ghana, are heavily dependent on taxation as a means of generating the required financial capital to meet their ever-increasing spending requirements to ensure economic growth and improve the quality of citizens’ lives
It is expected that where tax service quality levels are high, a positive tax compliance behaviour among taxpayers is evoked
The implication is that taxpayers will normally collaborate with quality taxservice-providing taxing authorities, who treat the taxpayers as partners in the revenue mobilisation agenda (Ameyaw et al, 2016)
Summary
Many emerging economies, including Ghana, are heavily dependent on taxation as a means of generating the required financial capital to meet their ever-increasing spending requirements to ensure economic growth and improve the quality of citizens’ lives. Many of these economies do not collect much tax revenue due to a variety of inhibiting factors (Amoh and Adom, 2017; Amoh and Ali-Nakyea, 2019) according to the Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research, ISSER (2019), Ghana has had low levels of tax compliance in recent years, impacting the mobilization of tax revenue.
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