A Study on Critical Factors of Tax Compliance Behaviour among Small and Medium Enterprises in Libya

Abstract

Tax compliance can be described as the level to which taxpayers obey or fail to obey the rules of taxation of their country. This is an admitted fact that the aim of an effective administration of tax is to enhance the voluntary compliance of tax with the use of all possible approaches that may include penalties as well. The primary purpose of this study is to assess the tax compliance behaviour among small and medium enterprises in Libya. This study provides a cornerstone for those who are looking for the reasons for tax compliance to be low. Therefore, this study examines the determinants of tax compliance and tax compliance behaviour. To achieve the goals of this study, a questionnaire survey was administered. Multiple regressions were used to test the formulated hypotheses. The results of this study show how the behaviour of tax compliance can be influenced by poor awareness, unfair taxes, low morale, strict authorities, tax rate and tax penalties. In relation to the practical and theoretical contributions, so far, to the best of the researcher’s knowledge, no scientific research has been done on this. This research would assist politicians, tax officials and the government of Libya in researching this phenomenon. Keywords: Tax compliance, Tax compliance behaviour, Determinants of tax, Tax knowledge, Tax penalty