Further Improving Our Understanding of the Tax Awareness, Tax Literacy and Tax Morale of Young Adults
Keywords:
Tax Morale, Tax Literacy, Tax Education, Work ExperienceAbstract
Developed countries have, for some years, been introducing policies that focus more on the individual’s responsibility to engage with taxpaying obligations. At the same time, they have provided less state support and assistance except where taxpayers are motivated to self-serve online. This paper argues that, given this change of approach to compliance, a greater focus on tax education is needed, particularly amongst younger people as they prepare to engage with the tax system beyond consumption taxation payment, and in order to build a platform for compliance improvement efforts in the future that is better suited to this greater focus on the individual’s responsibility for compliance. As such, it is also necessary to ascertain the most effective way in which to educate young people about the tax system. This paper seeks to contribute to this. It presents quantitative research into socio-demographic influences and the impact that tax tuition may have on young adults’ tax morale. The results of a two-staged survey show that gender, tax tuition, and employment experience significantly influence tax morale. The study contributes to the literature on tax morale and tax literacy by showing, through regression analysis, that the effect of tax tuition on tax morale is negatively influenced by employment experience.
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