The Impact of Tax Governance on the Governmental Corruption level in Jordan

The current study aimed at identifying the impact of applying two tax governance mechanisms (i.e. direct and indirect tax control) on the financial and administrative governmental corruption levels at the income and sales tax department in Jordan in 2017. The researchers developed a questionnaire to collect data. Then, they distributed the questionnaire forms to the random sample they selected. The study’s sample consists of 22 tax auditors, 8 tax supervisors, and 2 heads of the auditing departments who work at several directorates affiliated with the income and sales tax department at Jordan. The sample also includes 61 external certified auditors who were accredited by the latter department (n=93). The collected data was analyzed through the SPSS program and percentages and frequencies were calculated It was concluded that the application of the two tax governance mechanisms (i.e. direct and indirect tax control) can significantly reduce the levels of financial and administrative governmental corruption at the income and sales tax department. It was also concluded that external auditors - who are part of the tax governance system - play a significant role in reducing such corruption levels through enforcing indirect tax control on the income and sales tax department. Finally, the researchers recommend holding training programs to improve the efficiency of the employees working at the control departments of taxation authorities. They also recommend using advanced accounting and tax systems to raise the efficiency of the employees working at of the control department at taxation authorities.