Using Interpretive Phenomenology to Understand the Tax Compliance Lived Experiences of Small Business Owners

Abstract

The objective of the chapter is to illustrate how an interpretive phenomenological research approach can be used to understand the reasons behind the low tax compliance rates among small businesses. A combination of purposive and snowball sampling techniques was employed to select participants who were willing to share their experiences and perceptions with the researcher. Semi-structured interviews were employed to interview 25 small business owners, mainly situated in the Gauteng province of South Africa. The results suggest that the participants’ confidence in their ability to undertake the tax compliance functions by themselves is low. Furthermore, the feedback from the participants submit that stakeholders such as customers, suppliers, funders, investors and employees play an important role in the tax compliance decision-making of small business owners. Stakeholders increasingly prefer to deal with tax compliant businesses.