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This paper aims to examine the relationship between registration of business and tax payment among micro-business owners in Nkoranza South Municipal and Nkoranza North District in Ghana.

Interview schedule was used to collect information from 720 micro business owners who qualify for tax stamps. The study used correspondence analysis as the analytical tool.

The study found a significant association between registration of business and tax payment. The biplot also indicated that unregistered businesses and businesses registered with District Assembly only are more likely to evade tax than those registered with Ghana Revenue Authority.

In Ghana, for instance, owner of business is required by law to provide information on his/her business, himself/herself and partners (as the case may be) to the Registrar-General Department, and thereafter, the business should also be registered at the nearest Ghana Revenue Authority District Office. This regulation was enacted in 2005, and it is expected that this registration will help tax authority in tax collection, as they will have adequate knowledge about businesses in the area including the location of the businesses. However, after 10 years in existence of this regulation, the effect of this registration requirement on tax payment in Ghana is not known. It is this gap that the present study seeks to fill by looking at the relationship between registration of business and tax evasion in the Ghanaian informal sector.

This chapter presents a seven-part case developed for use in a graduate-level tax planning class. The case is organized in a taxpayer/business “life-cycle” approach. Over the semester the case follows a married couple as they consider a number of investments, start a business, and expand the business. As the case progresses, the couple faces increasingly complex tax and business issues. The couple eventually winds down their involvement in the business and begins to plan for their retirement years. This chapter also provides a review of behavioral tax research published in the top accounting journals over the period 2004–2013. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how the case could be adapted by behavioral tax researchers in their research programs and perhaps by accounting firms in their training programs.

Electronic business has changed the way of conducting business and raises a number of tax issues and problems internationally. The challenge is for the tax authorities to assure the functionality of tax, including the determination of taxable transactions, taxable quantum and which government has the right to levy tax. The Organization for Economic Co‐operation and Development has played the leading role in the study of taxation issues arising from electronic transactions. The purpose of this paper is to study the tax issues and problems raised by electronic transactions and in particular, its impact on the tax base in Hong Kong. The popular view among many tax authorities is that the current taxing rules are sufficient to deal with Internet trading and that it does not require a fundamental rewriting of international or domestic tax principles even for source‐based jurisdictions like Hong Kong. However, it is important for the Hong Kong tax authority to lead the way on the challenges and the opportunities posed by e‐business in order to assure the functionality of tax in Hong Kong.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) implementation in Malaysia had raised various responses from many parties involved when the new tax was introduced in 2015 until its abolishment in 2018. GST complexity has been stated as part of the reasons for its resistance and abolishment. The purpose of this paper is to identify causes of GST complexities during its implementation in Malaysia.

This paper draws on causes of tax complexity from previous studies and conducted semi-structured interviews with tax experts. The respondents comprised of subject matter experts in GST and the findings are based on their numerous years of experiences handling clients with diverse backgrounds.

Findings from this study are categorised into legal complexity and declarative complexities. Almost all the causes of complexities from prior studies were encountered by Malaysian businesses. This study concluded that the most likely reasons for the abolishment of GST in Malaysia are: numerous rules and exception to the rules (e.g. 35 tax codes, gifts rules, 21-day rules), frequent changes of GST rulings and guidelines, GST computations that were too difficult for mixed supply and process of GST refund that were onerous and lengthy.

Limitations of this paper include reliance on the respondents’ ability to accurately and honestly recall details of their experiences, circumstances, thoughts or behaviours that are being asked.

Despite the abolishment of the GST in Malaysia, it is pertinent to identify the causes of GST complexities that can be learnt by the relevant authorities. Measures can be formulated to mitigate the identified GST complexities to ensure high compliance among businesses with other existing taxes or new taxes (if any) to be introduced in the future. This includes addressing the competency of RMCD officers and businesses on the rules and regulations, minimal rules and exception to the rules, a simplified GST computations for mixed supply and a systematic refund process.

The research method used is a flexible and powerful tool to capture the voices and the ways respondents make meaning of their experience dealing with the GST matters. The findings reveal a deep understanding of the issues from the views of the experts in the field.

Small businesses play a vital role in job creation and economic growth, and previous studies have noted that higher state tax rates may reduce entrepreneurial activity, growth, and hiring. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

In this paper, the authors use a 1989-2005 panel of state-level data to explore the effects of state income tax reciprocity agreements on several measures of small business activity. Since a reciprocity agreement exempts non-resident income from a state's personal income tax base, it has the potential to reduce barriers to entrepreneurial activity and lower tax compliance costs.

The results indicate that reciprocity agreements appear to have reduced the tax-rate sensitivity of entrepreneurial activity, which may lead to more small business and entrepreneurial activity in states with more active agreements, other factors constant. This suggests that personal income tax reciprocity agreements may be a credible policy tool to expand small business activity.

In this study, the paper sets out to determine if small business and entrepreneurial activity is greater in states that have reciprocity agreements and if such activity is dependent on the number of active agreements in place. Given recent nationwide efforts to ease compliance costs for business through other initiatives such as the Telecommuter Tax Fairness Act and the Streamlined Sales Tax Agreement, this study is the first to quantify how decreasing tax compliance and eliminating barriers to labor mobility affects small business activity. The results therefore have the potential to help shape debates in many states today.

Small business owners play an important role in the tax system. This paper seeks to establish a framework to highlight the particular tax situation of small business owners and the resulting implications, from a psychological perspective.

A framework identifying the key characteristics of small business owners' actual and perceived tax situation is established. Literature investigating these characteristics is reviewed in line with the proposed framework.

Three key aspects seem to distinguish small business owners' perceptions of their tax situation: small business owners are likely to perceive more opportunities not to comply than employed taxpayers; they are more likely to experience a lack of meaningful taxation knowledge; and they are more likely to face decision frames that render taxes as painful losses.

The suggested link between the subjective experience of the tax situation and compliance calls for a focus on strategies that aim to influence taxpayers' perceptions of their own evasion opportunities, their level of legislative and procedural knowledge, and their sense of ownership of tax money. Such a strategy is suggested to be particularly likely to be effective in the phase of nascent entrepreneurship and in a climate of mutual trust between taxpayers and tax authorities.

This paper comprehensively identifies and reviews the perceptual correlates of factors unique to small business owners' tax behaviour.

Available zakat accounting standards as well as the laws governing business zakat suggest that the adjusted net working capital or the adjusted growth capital of a business may be regarded as the base for computation of its zakat liability. The apparent consensus follows from the fiqhi prescription of imposing zakat on urud al-tijarah or the inventory of goods available for trade. Some contemporary scholars however question the rationale underlying this method and argue that the objectives of the Shariah are better met by seeking recourse to alternative methods of zakat determination for business organizations. There is therefore a need to revisit the issues and subject them to fresh scrutiny in terms of economic rationality and consistency.

The paper examines the arguments of the “orthodox” school as well as those of some contemporary scholars on alternative methods of computing business zakat. It also undertakes a comprehensive review of the laws of zakat as they are related to businesses and the related accounting pronouncements along with their underlying rationale. As the issue of incentivizing zakat payment is an important one, and it is often linked to provision of tax benefits, the paper examines a few suggestions in this regard.

On examination of specific suggestions – specifically, of treating earnings as zakat base – to scrutiny in terms of economic rationality and consistency, the authors argue that the “orthodox” position is not only consistent but also makes enormous economic sense. Further, the issue of incentivizing zakat payment and that of lack of harmonization between business zakat accounting and taxation need not be and should not be resolved by making changes in the former because the same has a sound Shariah basis. It can be easily resolved, if need be, by making changes in methods of taxation (tax deduction or tax rebate) and base them on specific items in the balance sheet or the income statement.

The paper provides useful insights to policy makers who are concerned about the huge gap between actual and potential collection of zakat and are considering tax reforms for incentivizing business zakat mobilization. It highlights the diversity in practices relating to zakat computation and related taxation across Muslim countries.

The paper searches for and observes consistency and compatibility between the orthodox Shariah-legal position and several accounting and taxation-related policies relating to business zakat. The policy prescriptions are expected to rejuvenate and strengthen the global zakat sector.

This study aims to analyze the tax compliance behavior of family firms by integrating social and psychological norms with legitimacy determinants, focusing specifically on the Moroccan context.

Employing a qualitative research design, the study conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 chief executive officers (CEOs) of Moroccan family firms. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis to unravel the interplay between individual beliefs and societal norms.

The findings reveal a complex interplay between the personal norms of CEOs and chief financial officers (CFOs) and wider societal and cultural expectations, significantly influencing tax compliance behavior. The study identifies the multifaceted nature of tax compliance, which is shaped by personal ethics, family values and the dominant societal tax culture.

The research is limited by its qualitative approach and focus on Moroccan family businesses, which may not be generalizable to other contexts. Future studies could use a quantitative approach and expand to other geographical settings for a more comprehensive understanding.

Insights from the study can assist policymakers and tax authorities in developing culturally sensitive tax compliance strategies that resonate with family business values.

The research underscores the importance of considering sociocultural dimensions in tax compliance, fostering a more cooperative relationship between family businesses and tax authorities.

The study contributes a novel perspective by synthesizing social, psychological and legitimacy factors in understanding tax compliance in the unique context of family businesses.