A Conceptual Model of Sales Tax Compliance among Jordanian SMEs and Its Implications for Future Research

Abstract

Tax compliance is a serious and growing issue all over the world. The government of Jordan undertakes various fiscal measures to maximize domestic throughout the past few decades but according to the annual reports, the country still faces a sharp increase in net public debt and fiscal deficit brought about by the increase in the rate of tax non-compliance, and this particularly holds true for sales tax. Therefore, this study generally focuses on the topic of tax non-compliance, specifically sales tax in the Jordanian context. Literature is still lacking of studies that examined determinants of sales tax compliance and several determinants may be the causes behind the non-compliance phenomenon but a general tax compliance model is not effective in explaining the issue. Therefore, for an in-depth understanding of sales tax compliance determinants in Jordanian SMEs, the present research brings forth an extension of Fischer’s model of tax compliance, with the addition of the moderating influence of tax services quality. The proposed model takes social, psychological and economic factors into consideration within one comprehensive model to provide insight into sales tax compliance among SMEs in Jordan.