Perceptions of Tax Fairness and Tax Compliance Behaviour: A Comparative Study

This cross-cultural study compares the perceptions of tax fairness of New Zealand and Malaysian individual taxpayers of their respective national income tax systems and investigates the consequences of those taxpayers’ perceptions of tax fairness, as well as other important variables, on their compliance behaviour. The hypotheses of the study were tested using the responses to a questionnaire survey. A t-test and Partial Least Squares analyses were used to analyse the survey data. The results suggest that Malaysian taxpayers have significantly better perceptions of fairness of their income tax systems than their New Zealand counterparts. However, New Zealand taxpayers were found to be more compliant regarding their tax responsibility. The most important factor in explaining taxpayers’ compliance behaviour between the two countries was the attitude of individuals towards compliance, followed by subjective norms. Perceptions of tax fairness, which were highly influenced by both tax knowledge and the perceived complexity of the tax system, was influential in explaining tax compliance. ABSTRAK Kajian perbandingan ini membandingkan persepsi pembayar cukai individu di New Zealand dan Malaysia terhadap kesaksamaan sistem cukai pendapatan, serta meneliti kesan persepsi tersebut bersama dengan pemboleh ubah lain ke atas gelagat kepatuhan. Hipotesis kajian diuji menggunakan analisis ujian t dan Separa Kuasa Dua Terkecil menggunakan maklum balas kepada borang kaji selidik. Hasil kajian menunjukkan pembayar cukai di Malaysia mempunyai pandangan yang lebih positif terhadap kesaksamaan sistem cukai di Malaysia berbanding persepsi pembayar cukai di New Zealand terhadap sistem cukai mereka. Bagaimanapun, pembayar cukai di New Zealand lebih patuh terhadap tanggungjawab cukai mereka berbanding pembayar cukai di Malaysia. Hasil kajian juga menunjukkan bahawa faktor yang paling konsisten dalam mempengaruhi gelagat kepatuhan di kedua-dua buah negara adalah sikap terhadap pematuhan cukai, diikuti oleh norma subjektif. Persepsi kesaksamaan yang dipengaruhi oleh pengetahuan cukai dan kompleksiti sistem cukai, merupakan faktor mempengaruhi gelagat kepatuhan cukai.