INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ACCOUNTING, FINANCE AND SOCIAL TAXATION (IJAFST)
Simplification Factors Addressing Tax Systemic Complexity during Tax Reform Periods: Evidence from the Greek Tax System
E-ISSN: 2316-422X
P-ISSN: 3982-0997
DOI: https://iigdpublishers.com/article/1637
Tax procedures have increased due to the expansion of international trade opportunities, administrative strategies and technology. As a result, tax complexity increases and burdens citizens, enterprises and tax authorities. Traditional causes of complexity are found in political instability, legislation, central and operational planning. The interpretation of legislation greatly affects tax awareness; thus, information systems aimed at tax system modernizations and upgrades, according to international practices. Questionnaires were sent to tax payers and tax authorities investigating their perception of complexity. Through factor analysis, the items generated factors that simplify or complicate a tax system. Some of the traditional factors of complexity such as administration and information systems were expected. However, governmental influence and tax awareness were significantly reduced when dealing with taxation as a system. On the other hand tax reforms simplified the tax system, while tax awareness due to technology has little influence on complexity. This swift of some traditional governmental and citizens’ oriented factors denotes the necessity of simplifying and reforming procedures in favor of demands in technology and tax standardization in a smaller country’s tax system.
Alkiviadis Karagiorgos, Grigoris Lazos, Petros Lois, Dimitrios Katsifas & Maria Kasiouli
Alm J, Bloomquist KM, McKee M (2017). When you know your neighbour pays taxes: Information, peer effects and tax compliance. Fiscal Studies 38(4):587-613.
Almunia M, Lopez-Rodriguez D (2018). Under the radar: The effects of monitoring firms on tax compliance. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 10(1):1-38.
Awang N, Amran A (2014). Ethics and Tax Compliance. Ethics, Governance and Corporate Crime: Challenges and Consequences. Developments in Corporate Governance and Responsibility 6:105-113.
Bornman M, Ramutumbu P (2019). A conceptual framework of tax knowledge. Meditari Accountancy Research 27(6):823-839.
Borrego AC, Lopes CM, Ferreira CM (2018). The perception of tax complexity within local authorities' VAT framework: Evidence from Portugal. In Handbook of Research on Modernization and Accountability in Public Sector Management. pp. 384-405.
Brockmann H, Genschel P, Seelkopf L (2016). Happy taxation: increasing tax compliance through positive rewards?. Journal of Public Policy 36(3):381-406.
Cabello OG, Gaio LE, Watrin C (2019). Tax avoidance in management-owned firms: evidence from Brazil. International Journal of Managerial Finance 15(4):580-592.
Carnes GA, Cuccia AD (1996). An analysis of the effect of tax complexity and its perceived justification on equity judgments. Journal of the American Taxation Association 18(2):40-56.
Cox SP, Eger III RJ (2006). Procedural complexity of tax administration: The road fund case. Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting and Financial Management 18(3):259-283.
Floropoulos J, Halvatzis D, Spathis C, Tsipouridou M (2010). Measuring the success of the Greek Taxation Information System. International Journal of Information Management 30(1):47-56.
Freudenberg B, Tran-Nam B, Karlinsky S, Gupta R (2012). A comparative analysis of tax advisers' perception of small business tax law complexity: United States, Australia and New Zealand. In Australian Tax Forum 27(4):677-718.
