IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/rnd/arjebs/v9y2017i4p242-250.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Determinants of Tax Non-Compliance among Small and Medium Enterprises in Zimbabwe

Author

Listed:
  • Banele Dlamini

Abstract

Small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) are recognized global for being the backbone of the economy through; economic advancement; innovation, wealth generation and furthering growth. SMEs have a high tax non compliance rate which hinders the development they bring to many economies. This paper aims to establish the major determinants of tax non-compliance among SMEs in the Zimbabwean economy. The survey research design was used and the SMEs operating in the Bulawayo provincewere considered as the sample of the study. The stratified random sampling technique was adopted in eliciting information and questionnaires were administered in the collection of data from the respondents. 187 questionnaires were issued out and 150 were returned. Regression analysis was used to establish the relationship that exists between tax non-compliance and the predictive variables, using SPSS ver. 22. The study revealed that poor follow-up strategy and lack of a tax audit, high tax rates, financial constraints, abuse of public funds by authorities and tax education as the major determinants. SME operators should apply modern business survival strategies so as to counter financial constraints. ZIMRA should maintain a database for SMEs for tax audit purposes; intensify follow-up strategies, increase tax audits and increase tax support services to SMEs. The government should consider reducing tax rates (which are perceived to be too high) as they promote tax evasion and failure among SMEs.

Suggested Citation

  • Banele Dlamini, 2017. "Determinants of Tax Non-Compliance among Small and Medium Enterprises in Zimbabwe," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 9(4), pages 242-250.
    • Handle: RePEc:rnd:arjebs:v:9:y:2017:i:4:p:242-250
    DOI: 10.22610/jebs.v9i4(J).1837
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ojs.amhinternational.com/index.php/jebs/article/view/1837/1491
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://ojs.amhinternational.com/index.php/jebs/article/view/1837
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22610/jebs.v9i4(J).1837?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. E Gahramanov, 2009. "The Theoretical Analysis of Income Tax Evasion Revisited," Economic Issues Journal Articles, Economic Issues, vol. 14(1), pages 35-42, March.
    2. James Andreoni & Brian Erard & Jonathan Feinstein, 1998. "Tax Compliance," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(2), pages 818-860, June.
    3. Godwin Dube, 2014. "Informal Sector Tax Administration In Zimbabwe," Public Administration & Development, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 34(1), pages 48-62, February.
    4. Alm, James & McClelland, Gary H. & Schulze, William D., 1992. "Why do people pay taxes?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 21-38, June.
    5. Bruno S. Frey & Lars P. Feld, 2002. "Deterrence and Morale in Taxation: An Empirical Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 760, CESifo.
    6. Brian Erard & Jonathan S. Feinstein, 1994. "Honesty and Evasion in the Tax Compliance Game," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 25(1), pages 1-19, Spring.
    7. Kirchler, Erich & Hoelzl, Erik & Wahl, Ingrid, 2008. "Enforced versus voluntary tax compliance: The "slippery slope" framework," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 210-225, April.
    8. Fjeldstad, Odd-helge & Semboja, Joseph, 2001. "Why People Pay Taxes: The Case of the Development Levy in Tanzania," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(12), pages 2059-2074, December.
    9. Kirchler,Erich, 2007. "The Economic Psychology of Tax Behaviour," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521876742.
    10. Gordon, James P. P., 1989. "Individual morality and reputation costs as deterrents to tax evasion," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 797-805, April.
    11. Allingham, Michael G. & Sandmo, Agnar, 1972. "Income tax evasion: a theoretical analysis," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(3-4), pages 323-338, November.
    12. Luiz de Mello, 2008. "Avoiding the Value Added Tax: Theory and Cross-Country Evidence," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 604, OECD Publishing.
    13. Christine Fauvelle‐Aymar, 1999. "The Political and Tax Capacity of Government in Developing Countries," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(3), pages 391-413, August.
    14. Anonymous, 1965. "International Monetary Fund," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(4), pages 1052-1056, October.
    15. Yitzhaki, Shlomo, 1974. "Income tax evasion: A theoretical analysis," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(2), pages 201-202, May.
    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. Bethencourt, Carlos & Kunze, Lars, 2020. "Social norms and economic growth in a model with labor and capital income tax evasion," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 170-182.
    2. Amjad Abdallah Alkhatib & Hijattulah Abdul-Jabbar & Munusamy Marimuthu, 2018. "The Effects of Deterrence Factors on Income Tax Evasion among Palestinian SMEs," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 8(4), pages 144-152, October.

    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. Kasper, Matthias & Alm, James, 2022. "Audits, audit effectiveness, and post-audit tax compliance," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 87-102.
    3. Giulia Mascagni, 2018. "From The Lab To The Field: A Review Of Tax Experiments," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 273-301, April.
    4. Casal, Sandro & Mittone, Luigi, 2016. "Social esteem versus social stigma: The role of anonymity in an income reporting game," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 55-66.
    5. Torgler, Benno & Schneider, Friedrich, 2009. "The impact of tax morale and institutional quality on the shadow economy," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 228-245, April.
    6. Alex Reuben Kira, 2017. "An Evaluation of Governments’ Initiatives in Enhancing Small Taxpayers’ Voluntary Tax Compliance in Developing Countries," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 7(1), pages 253-267, January.
    7. Ali, Merima & Fjeldstad, Odd-Helge & Sjursen, Ingrid Hoem, 2014. "To Pay or Not to Pay? Citizens’ Attitudes Toward Taxation in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and South Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 828-842.
    8. Battiston, Pietro & Gamba, Simona, 2016. "The impact of social pressure on tax compliance: A field experiment," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 78-85.
    9. Pietro Battiston & Simona Gamba, 2013. "Is Tax Compliance a Social Norm? A Field Experiment," Working Papers 249, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Jul 2013.
    10. Eric Floyd & Michael Hallsworth & John List & Robert Metcalfe & Kristian Rotaru & Ivo Vlaev, 2022. "What motivates people to pay their taxes? Evidence from four experiments on tax compliance," Natural Field Experiments 00750, The Field Experiments Website.
    11. Kim, Youngse, 2003. "Income distribution and equilibrium multiplicity in a stigma-based model of tax evasion," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(7-8), pages 1591-1616, August.
    12. Colin C. Williams, 2014. "Confronting the Shadow Economy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15370.
    13. Colin C. Williams & Friedrich Schneider, 2016. "Measuring the Global Shadow Economy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 16551.
    14. Brizi, Ambra & Giacomantonio, Mauro & Schumpe, Birga M. & Mannetti, Lucia, 2015. "Intention to pay taxes or to avoid them: The impact of social value orientation," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 22-31.
    15. Blaine Robbins & Edgar Kiser, 2018. "Legitimate authorities and rational taxpayers: An investigation of voluntary compliance and method effects in a survey experiment of income tax evasion," Rationality and Society, , vol. 30(2), pages 247-301, May.
    16. Stefanos A. Tsikas, 2020. "Enforce taxes, but cautiously: societal implications of the slippery slope framework," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 149-170, August.
    17. Martin Fochmann & Frank Hechtner & Tobias Kölle & Michael Overesch, 2021. "Combating overreporting of deductions in tax returns: prefilling and restricting the deductibility of expenditures," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 91(7), pages 935-964, September.
    18. Odd-Helge Fjeldstad & Collette Schulz-Herzenberg & Ingrid Hoem Sjursen, 2012. "Peoples' views of taxation in Africa: A review of research on determinants of tax compliance," CMI Working Papers 7, CMI (Chr. Michelsen Institute), Bergen, Norway.
    19. Erich Kirchler & Stephan Muehlbacher & Barbara Kastlunger & Ingrid Wahl, 2007. "Why Pay Taxes? A Review of Tax Compliance Decisions," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper0730, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    20. Torgler, Benno & Schneider, Friedrich & Schaltegger, Christoph A., 2007. "With or Against the People? The Impact of a Bottom-Up Approach on Tax Morale and the Shadow Economy," Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics, Working Paper Series qt6331x6vz, Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:rnd:arjebs:v:9:y:2017:i:4:p:242-250. 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: Muhammad Tayyab (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://ojs.amhinternational.com/index.php/jebs .

    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.