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Audit quality at the Inland Revenue Board Malaysia (IRBM) is a crucial element in the audit process to ensure no violation of tax reporting by the taxpayers. Hence, it is important to understand whether tax auditors perceive audit quality equally. Furthermore, recognizing the level of audit quality is also important to assist the tax authority in strategizing their efforts. This triggers researchers to embark on this exploratory study through document review and interviews. Data gathered were analysed using descriptive and thematic analysis. Results indicate that there is different perception of audit quality among tax officers, namely competency to detect the amount of audit settlement, audit settlement within the time frame and the achievement of the given key performance indicators (KPIs). The findings further indicate that the level of audit quality is quite alarming particularly with reference to the number of aging cases. The findings from this study provide an insight to the IRBM in their effort to streamline the direction of the tax auditors in improving audit quality.

Learning outcomes ▪ Perform relevant analysis (financial and non-financial) related to investment decision-making. ▪ Make decision based on the analysis. Case overview/synopsis Jade Sdn. Bhd. (JADE), since its establishment, has been mainly involved in providing services in facility management and cleaning services. Apart from these main services, JADE was also involved in hospitality management, travel and tours, and agribusiness. The current involvements were already varied, and the Board was thinking of furthering the diversification activity to generate more revenues. As the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of JADE, Ahmad was required to conduct the necessary analysis and provide his recommendation to the Board whether JADE should proceed with the purchase of Tulip Garden Hotel (TULIP). He had one month to act before proposing his recommendation to the Board. Complexity academic level Undergraduate and Postgraduate Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

The extent of corporate tax evasion and underreporting globally is increasing and taking new dimensions. Multinational corporations are taking advantage of the certain tax system to evade tax across countries. Governments lose huge amounts of revenue from large corporation tax evasion behavior, it was estimated that countries lose about 4-10 percent of global corporate income tax revenues to corporate tax evasion, which could have been used for health care delivery, education, and infrastructural development. The objective of this study is to determine the corporate tax evasion variables. The quantitative research approach was employed, a survey was used to collect the data from 312 oil and gas companies, SPSS and PLS-SEM were used to analyze the data. By expanding the economic deterrence theory with the economic theory of regulation, the results show that tax rate, detection probability, and penalty have a positive and significant relationship with corporate tax evasion. The result further revealed that environmental regulation has a positive and significant relationship with corporate tax evasion. The result of this study implied that tax rate, detection probability, penalty, and environmental regulation are the determinants of corporate tax evasion. This paper extends economic deterrence theory with economic theory of regulation, through environmental regulation as a predictor variable. The finding provides novel knowledge in taxation domain by integrating the two theories from different disciplines. Fundamentally, the effect of environmental regulation on corporate tax evasion is new in the literature, hence, it will serve as the foundation and basis for reference in future research. Therefore, policymakers globally, should design appropriate tax penalty systems, establish robust detection mechanisms, restructure the tax rate, and formulate friendly environmental regulations to reduce the level of corporate tax evasion among large and multinational companies across the globe. JEL E6; E7; E70; E71

Taxation research has received considerable attention from many scholars, practitioners and policymakers across the globe. Many scholars have also conducted research on taxation in the Malaysian context. However, papers that track the trends of such research are scanty in the existing literature. The aim of this study is to review the trend and frequencies of published literature on taxation in Malaysia based on the Scopus database using the search term “Malaysia and tax”. The design of the study is bibliometric analysis. As of 23rd September 2020, a total of 88 documents were retrieved and analysed using Excel, Hazing’s Publish or Perish and VOSviewer software. Based on the standard bibliometric indicators, this paper reports the research papers and source types, years and language of publications, subject area, most active institutions, most active sources’ titles, keywords, authorship, abstract, title analysis and citation analysis. Findings revealed that there is an increase in growth rate of literature on studies related to taxation in the Malaysian context from 1977 to 2020 published in the Scopos database. The publications reached an all-time peak in 2016 to 2017 but significantly dropped in 2018 and 2019 based on the data retrieved from the Scopus database. The findings further show that Universiti Teknologi MARA is the most influential institution with 18.18% of the total documents retrieved, followed by Universiti Utara Malaysia with 9.1% respectively. Additional findings of the study show that Advance Science Letters is the highest source title with 14.71% of the published documents. The finding also indicates that Adhikari, Derashid and Zhang (2006) are the most influential authors with 187 citations as at 23rd September 2020. The research is limited to the literatures published in Scopus database, other database were not covered in this study. Malaysian policymakers should provide more research grants to tax practitioners and academicians to increase the level of publications in this field.

Malaysia introduced Monthly Tax Deduction (MTD) as final tax system so that salaried earner can be excluded from reporting their employment income. However, the system is on voluntary basis and the take-up rate is low. So, this study was undertaken to examine the issues faced by employees on the implementation of MTD as final tax system in Malaysia. This study comprises a case study on MTD implementation at two institutions which remain anonymous due to confidentiality. Data was collected from 64 responses from open ended questionnaires to employees at both institutions. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. Findings from the analysis revealed that employees‘ hesitation to such a system is more apparent. There are three main issues discovered from this study which are: lack of knowledge on MTD as final tax among employees; burden on claiming tax reliefs and the accuracy of MTD calculation; and employer‘s readiness. The findings provide evidence to the IRBM and it will provide good foundation for the IRBM to strategize on mechanisms to enhance the implementation of the scheme. For instance, the information on low readiness among employers may call for roundtable discussion between the tax authority and employers. This would help both parties to discuss possible ways to resolve the issue. Other implications and recommendations for policy makers were also discussed in this paper.

Growing environmental deterioration has caused many countries to tighten their environmental regulations across the globe. Recent studies show that most developed countries enforced stricter environmental regulations creating a pollution haven to developing countries such as Nigeria. Studies show the non-availability of an environmental regulation compliance scale in the energy sectors. The aim of this paper is to validate the effects of environmental regulation compliance scale for oil and gas companies’ operations in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. Hence, an adapted questionnaire comprising 11 items was administered to 300 local and multinational oil and gas companies in Nigeria. All the items were subjected to evaluations and validations by eight expert reviewers with cognate experience in oil and gas activities. Evaluation of the reliability and validity of the measures of the environmental regulation scale was performed through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using SPSS version 25 and PLS-SEM version 3.8. The results provide evidence that the environmental regulation compliance scale has met the reliability and validity criteria. Consequently, policymakers, practitioners, and researchers can adapt this scale to assess the effects of environmental regulation compliance by companies in different jurisdictions across the globe. This study undoubtedly builds the existing literature and contributes to the subject area; by implication, the validated scale will assist host oil and gas countries with stringent environmental regulations to come up with policies in such a way as to ensure not chasing away the current investors or discouraging prospective ones from investing in their countries.

PurposeThe oil and gas sector are among the nonrenewable energy sectors that contribute immensely to the economic development of more than 98 countries around the globe. Nigeria depends largely on revenue from oil and gas. Unfortunately, oil and gas companies mostly evade taxes. This study aims to investigate the effects of variables subsumed in the economic deterrence theory of Allingham and Sandmo (1972), which comprise (tax rate, penalty and detection probability) with one additional variable royalty rates (RR) on petroleum profit tax compliance (PPTC).Design/methodology/approachThe study used a survey to collect data from 300 local and multi-national oil and gas companies in Nigeria. SPSS version 25 and partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) version 3.8 were used to analyze the data.FindingsThe results reveal that there is a negatively significant relationship between tax rate and RR and PPTC. The findings also show a positive and significant relationship between penalty and detection probability and PPTC.Originality/valueThe implication of the current study is that the current tax rate and RR are determinants of PPTC in Nigeria. Policymakers, in collaboration with the tax authority, should revisit these variables to enhance the level of PPTC, which could lead to an overall improvement in the country’s tax revenue.

Tax non-compliance phenomenon has become a key issue for developing countries such as Libya because it hinders taxpayers from contributing effectively to the economy. Previous literature refers to diverse socio-psychological factors that influence tax non-compliance behavior. Nevertheless, there is a lack of study on the influence of religious factors on tax non-compliance. Therefore, the current study empirically examines the impact of Islamic perspective and Islamic religiosity on tax non-compliance behavior among self-employed taxpayers in Libya. A quantitative method using a questionnaire is utilized to collect the data. Structural equation modeling was employed using PLS. This study provides empirical evidence that Islamic perspective and Islamic religiosity have a significant positive relationship with tax non-compliance among Libyan self-employed. Theoretically, the findings have extended the body of knowledge by providing empirical evidence on the effect of religious factors on tax non-compliance. Practically, the study provides fruitful insights for policymakers and government officials to consider these factors as crucial while formulating taxation policies to minimize the phenomenon of tax non-compliance among Libyan individual taxpayers and, hence, increase government revenue.

PurposeThis study aims to validate the royalty rate measurement scale by using rigorous scale validation procedures.Design/methodology/approachEvaluation of reliability and validity of the measures of royalty rate was performed through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using SPSS version 25 and PLS-SEM version 3.8.FindingsThe results provide evidence that the royalty rate measurement scale has achieved reliability and validity criteria.Research limitations/implicationsConsequently, policymakers, practitioners and researchers can adopt this scale to assess the royalty rate in other energy sectors where royalty arrangements exist in different jurisdictions across the globe.Practical implicationsThe practical contributions of the study are threefold. First, the validated scale presented in Table IV can serve as a checklist for oil and gas producing countries while assessing the stringiness or otherwise of their royalty rates. Second, the validated scale can be used to assess the perception of oil and gas companies with regards to the royalty rate as whether the rate is too high and worrisome or is acceptable. Finally, it could also be used to assess the role of regulatory bodies in assessing royalty rates while dealing with multinational and local oil companies. Eventually, the scale can assist policymakers across the globe to adapt in investment decision-making, particularly regarding royalty arrangement.Originality/valueThis study undoubtedly builds the existing literature and contributes to the subject area; by implication, the validated scale will assist host oil and gas countries with stringent royalty rate to revise the royalty policy in such a way to ensure neutrality, thereby not chasing away the current investors or discouraging prospective ones from investing in their oil and gas industry.

This study provides empirical evidence related to the effect of some factors towards the acceptance of the Monthly Tax Deduction (MTD) as the final tax. The MTD system is referred to as a no-return system. The purpose of such a system is mainly to reduce taxpayers’ burden and reduce tax evasion as well as increase tax collection. In Malaysia, the MTD as the final tax scheme for the salaried group of taxpayers is still new. Thus, the purpose of this study has been to determine the acceptance of the MTD as the final tax with the perspective of the theory of planned behaviour. Using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) as the basis of this study’s framework, the useable data were collected from 150 salaried earners from Petronas Berhad and Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia. The data were analysed using SPSS. The findings from the multiple regression analysis revealed that attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control had significant positive effects on the Intention to accept the MTD as the final tax, whilst readiness was insignificant. Moreover, the results also indicated that attitude was the most influential factor. This study confirms the applicability of the TPB in the intention to accept the MTD as the final tax. The findings on the usage intention towards the MTD as the final tax and its determinants will also assist the IRBM in formulating strategies or mechanisms for improvement. Implications and recommendations for policymakers are also discussed.

The paper presents a theoretical framework on the moderating effect of trust in authority on the relationship between tax rates, penalty, detection probability, cost of compliance, royalty rates, environmental regulations, and petroleum profit tax compliance. The objective of the proposed framework is to expand the Allingham and Sandmo (1972) model of tax compliance by adding two more predictor variables relevant to the oil and gas industry (royalty rates and environmental regulations), and moderating variable (trust) to better explain the relationship. Allingham and Sandmo (1972) model received a lot of criticisms for not considering other non-human factors that can help in determining taxpayers’ compliance behavior, hence the expansion of the model to include new variables, purely non-human factors which are relevant to the industry in question. A thorough search of the following databases: Scopus database, Web of Science, Emerald, Google Scholar, among others was conducted to come up with the relevant and related literature on the subject matter. Providing empirical evidence through validation of this framework would have important implications for policymakers in host oil and gas producing countries, oil and gas operators, the deterrence theory as well as future research.

Research aim: Prior to the emergence of the “Slippery Slope Frameworkâ€, studies on factors influencing tax compliance considered many independent variables. However, the framework simplified the tax compliance model in a parsimonious way with only two independent variables capable of explaining tax compliance. These are trust in authority and power of authority. In this study, an attempt is made to test the assumptions of the framework using cross-country data with a larger sample from Asia. Design/ Methodology/ Approach: A cross-sectional data from 41 Asian countries was generated and analysed through Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression analysis. Research finding: From the analysis, trust was found to have a significant influence on tax compliance across the countries investigated, while the power of authority was found to be weak in that regard. The interaction between the two variables in explaining tax compliance was also found to be weak across the sampled countries. Theoretical contribution/ Originality: Theoretically, the study supports not only the “Slippery Slope Framework†but also Social Exchange Theory as it shows that in social exchange contract such as paying tax by taxpayers and providing public goods and services by the central government. Trust plays an important role as taxpayers expect reciprocation. Practitioner/ Policy implication: The result highlights to the policymakers in 41 Asian countries that improving tax compliance requires a high level of trust from authorities. Taxpayers seek the judicious use of taxpayers’ money in executing projects and services needed by the nation. Research limitation/ Implication: Considering additional factors such as antecedents of trust and power will add to the explanation of tax compliance using the framework. Keywords: Power, Slippery Slope Framework, Tax Compliance, Trust Type of article: Research paper JEL Classification: H24, H25, H26

Attractiveness of a country petroleum fiscal system plays significant role in investment location decisions. This study modeled the influence of attractive petroleum fiscal regime dimensions on marginal oil fields’ (MOFs) investment climate in Malaysia. The dimensions examined in this study are fiscal administration/economy, fiscal certainty, fiscal efficiency, and fiscal equity/neutrality. Data was collected through survey of accounting, business and taxation experts’ within Malaysian MOFs subsector. It was analyzed using Partial Lease Square (PLS) – Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) version 3 and Special Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 19. The results showed that fiscal certainty, fiscal efficiency and fiscal equity/neutrality were found to have significant positive influence on marginal oil fields’ investment climate, adversely insignificant influence of fiscal administration/economy on marginal oil fields investment climate was reported. The result has established weaker link between petroleum fiscal regime administration and MOFs’ investment climate in Malaysia, thus highlighting the scope for improvement on this dimension. Therefore, it is recommended that concerned authorities should consider strengthening of the administrative framework of MOFs’ fiscal regime, thereby enhancing its investment climate. To the best of our knowledge this is the first study that employed the use of experts’ perception in modeling the influence of attractive fiscal regime dimensions on oil and gas fields’ investment climate, and eventually investment location decisions.Keywords: attractive petroleum fiscal regime, investment climate, investment location decisionJEL Classifications: M4, M48, Q4, Q48DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.7721

This study provides empirical evidence on the perception of green tax mechanisms that are currently implemented in Malaysia. This study is undertaken in response to increasing incidents of environmental degradation taking place in our country as a result of business activities. In particular, this study sets to explore the current practice of green tax in Malaysia and its effectiveness in achieving the intended goal of green environment. For that purpose, a qualitative approach of data collection was conducted, mainly through interviews and document review. Hence, 11 participants representing government agencies and industries were interviewed and data gathered were transcribed and analysed accordingly using thematic analysis. Annual reports and performance reports were also reviewed to complement the findings. Among others, the findings indicate that green tax practice in Malaysia is merely focused on incentive-based which are under jurisdiction of Malaysian Investment Development Authority and the Inland Revenue Board Malaysia (IRBM). The authority to impose penalties (which are not related to tax) rests with the Department of Environment. The practice is slightly different from the developed country which blends both incentive-based and penalty-based under jurisdiction of the tax authority. It is hoped that these findings would assist the relevant agencies to formulate the strategies in their effort to preserve our natural heritage.

The emergence of Risk Sharing Contract (RSC) in the Malaysian oil and gas industry in 2010 was to improve the investment climate for the growing number of marginal oil fields. Notwithstanding the effort, only six RSCs were signed within five years (2010-2014). This warrants for the examination of whether or not the RSC fosters the investment climate of marginal oil fields in Malaysia. For that purpose, a sequential mixed method approach (scenario analysis and interview) was undertaken. The scenario analysis adopts three measures of investment appraisal (Profitability Index, Access to Gross Revenue and Saving Index), to measure investment climate under two scenarios, namely Revenue/Cost factor Profit Sharing Contract (R/C factor PSC) and RSC. The analysis was conducted under different oil price and reserves level. Results reveal that RSC improves the investment climate of marginal oil fields under low and medium oil prices, while R/C factor PSC is better off under higher oil price. The interview provides a consistent result with the scenario analysis. Further, the interview results recommend a few additional incentives in order to foster the marginal oil fields in Malaysia. The findings would provide insights to policymakers in their effort to enhance the attractiveness of marginal oil fields in Malaysia. In the same vein, the study would benefit other countries that experience an increase in the number of marginal oil fields. In line with its findings, the study highlights the scope for improvement. The direction for future research is also highlighted.

There have been a perceived decline in teaching and learning in Nigerian schools which could be attributed to teachers’ ineffectiveness. Teachers’ effectiveness have been adopted in many research works, but scarcely attempted on motivational practices for teachers’ effectiveness. A literature gap exists, thus motivating the researcher to assess principals’ motivational practices for teachers’ effectiveness in public and private secondary schools in Ebonyi State. The study adopted descriptive survey design. The population of the study was 355 principals, comprised of 221 from public schools and 126 from private schools. Purposive sampling technique was used to select all the 355 principals for the study. Questionnaire titled “Principals Motivational Practices for Teachers’ Effectiveness Questionnaire” (PMPTEQ) was used for data collection. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation while the null hypotheses formulated for the study were tested using t-test of independent sample at 0.05 level of significance. The results revealed that principals’ effective communication pattern motivates teachers for effectiveness in public and private secondary schools, that the extent principals ensuring staff meeting motivate teachers for effectiveness in public and private secondary schools. The study however found that differences exist in the extent the principals ensure teachers’ welfare services in public and private secondary schools. The result further revealed that there is no significant different on the extent principals’ communication pattern motivate teachers for effectiveness in public and private secondary schools in Ebonyi Stat. It showed that there is no significant difference in the extent principals ensure regular meeting with teachers to motivate teachers for effectiveness in public and private secondary schools. The result equally revealed that there is significant difference in the welfare services adopted by public and private school principals for teachers’ effectiveness. This difference was in terms of school management strategies. The study therefore recommended among other things that motivation of teachers by the principals is vital tools for effective secondary school administration whether public or private but the personnel management skills adopted could either make or mar the effectiveness of teachers in teaching and learning process. Key words: Motivation, motivational practices, teachers’ effectiveness

This study investigates the determinants of tax administration efficiency in Nigeria. The Nigerian tax system is faced with challenges, such as loss of revenue through high level of tax defaulters from both the legislative arm of the government and public institutions, corruption and financial irregularities and limited government administrative capability. Therefore, current study examines the influence of autonomy of the State Board of Internal Revenue (SBIR), use of information and communications technology, public enlightenment, strong auditing practice, motivation and incentives and perceived corruption on tax administration efficiency in Nigeria. A total of 124 questionnaires were collected out of 144 questionnaires that were administered. The study revealed that there is a significant positive relationship between tax administration efficiency and: autonomy of board of internal revenue, information and communications technology and public enlightenment. However, findings from the study revealed that there is insignificant relationship between tax administration efficiency and strong audit practice and motivation and incentives and perceived corruption. Based on the findings above, the study recommended that government should put an effective measure in place to collect taxes from tax defaulters across the different groups of the economy.

Inefficient tax system causes the government to lose a huge amount of revenue. Tax administrators are primarily responsible for collecting taxes due from taxpayers following the relevant tax laws and regulation in a way that instils confidence on taxpayers through efficient tax administration. This paper aims at validating relevant and reliable measurement scale for assessing the effectiveness of tax administration efficiency in dealing with oil and gas companies operating in the Nigerian oil sector. Hence, an adapted questionnaire comprising four items was administered on 300 local and multinational oil and gas companies in Nigeria. All the items were subjected to evaluations and validations by eight experts’ reviewers with cognate experience in oil and gas activities. Evaluation of reliability and validity of the measures of tax administration efficiency was performed through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) using SPSS version 25 and Smart PLS version 3.8. The results provide evidence that the proposed tax administration efficiency scale attained reliability and validity criteria. Consequently, Policymakers, practitioners and researchers can adapt this scale to assess the effectiveness of tax administration efficiency by companies in different jurisdictions across the globe. This study expands existing literature and contributes new ideas to the subject area. By implication, the validated scale will assist oil and gas producing countries to come up with policies that ensures efficiency in tax administration and increase government revenues.

Growing environmental deterioration has caused many countries to tighten their environmental regulations across the globe. Recent studies show that most developed countries enforced stricter environmental regulations creating a pollution haven to developing countries such as Nigeria. Studies show the non-availability of an environmental regulation compliance scale in the energy sectors. The aim of this paper is to validate the effects of environmental regulation compliance scale for oil and gas companies' operations in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. Hence, an adapted questionnaire comprising 11 items was administered to 300 local and multinational oil and gas companies in Nigeria. All the items were subjected to evaluations and validations by eight expert reviewers with cognate experience in oil and gas activities. Evaluation of the reliability and validity of the measures of the environmental regulation scale was performed through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using SPSS version 25 and PLS-SEM version 3.8. The results provide evidence that the environmental regulation compliance scale has met the reliability and validity criteria. Consequently, policymakers, practitioners, and researchers can adapt this scale to assess the effects of environmental regulation compliance by companies in different jurisdictions across the globe. This study undoubtedly builds the existing literature and contributes to the subject area; by implication, the validated scale will assist host oil and gas countries with stringent environmental regulations to come up with policies in such a way as to ensure not chasing away the current investors or discouraging prospective ones from investing in their countries.

Objective - The objective of this paper is to examine green practices of hotels located in Northern region of Malaysia. Methodology/Technique - The sample of the study is 115 hotels in Penang, Kedah and Perlis. Questionnaires were personally delivered to each respective hotel. The response rate for the survey is 43%. Findings – Findings from the survey indicate that hoteliers have started to show a positive sign towards adoption of green practices such as usage of power saving bulbs, water conservation, and recycling management program. Novelty - The study urges more campaigns on awareness and the benefits of green practices. And, it will indirectly educate the hoteliers and society at large on the importance of saving the Mother Nature. Type of Paper - Empirical Keywords: Green Practices; Environment; Recycle; Hotels; Malaysia. JEL Classification: Q50, Q57.

Purpose The investment climate is one of the key factors considered by foreign investors while deciding their investment destination. This paper aims to attempt at validating the second-order model of oil and gas projects’ investment climate. Examination of the relationship between the dimensions of oil and gas projects’ investment climate; strategy, participants/operating environment and risk/return; and the overall latent construct was conducted. The study also evaluates the goodness of fit of the second-order model using relevant fit indices. Design/methodology/approach Oil and gas experts in Malaysian marginal oil fields subsector were deployed, through whom responses were collected that formed the data set used in the analysis. Then, the data were used for confirmatory factor analysis, evaluation of the second-order model through path analysis and for model fit evaluation. Findings The finding revealed that the second-order model of oil and gas projects’ investment climate is valid and reliable. It also revealed that all the three dimensions, strategy, participants/operating environment and risk/return, have significant effects on the formation of the oil and gas projects’ investment climate. Finally, the goodness of fit of the second-order model satisfied the relevant fit indices. Research limitations/implications The findings present valuable insights to policymakers on the extent of the influence each of the dimensions has on the overall latent construct. The validity and reliability analysis suggests the measurements of the second-order model of oil and gas projects’ investment climate construct, and its dimensions are valid, reliable and fit for future empirical research. Thus, it calls for replication in other oil and gas settings. Originality/value The findings from the results of this study are pioneering. Extant literature falls short in attempting the validation of the second-order oil and gas projects’ investment climate scale, as well as relating each of the dimensions with the overall latent construct.

This book is designed to provide a frame of reference for students pursuing a Principle of Taxation course in local universities, polytechnics and colleges. It is believed that the structured content of the book will facilitate easy reading and understanding of the readers even without any prior knowledge of taxation.

The paper examined the interacting role of perceived service orientation on the relationship between work family conflict, fuel subsidy removal and tax compliance behaviour in Nigeria. The aim of this paper is to establish whether the interacting role of perceived service orientation will further help in explaining the puzzle of tax compliance in relation to SMEs taxpayers. A total of 281 questionnaires from SMEs in Kaduna and Kano states, North West Nigeria were utilised in this study. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the study hypotheses. As predicted, the findings supported the interacting effect of perceived service orientation on the relationship between work family conflict and tax compliance behaviour, while no interacting effect was found between fuel subsidy removal and tax compliance behaviour. The results have practical implications for relevant tax authorities in creating a new paradigm shift that will ensure effective service orientation in the form of tax education and other form of tax services that could go a long way in minimising the tendency of low level of tax compliance.

In addition to conventional taxes, host oil and gas producing countries impose a “crypto tax”, including sustainability-related taxes similar to environmental taxes and social sphere development costs. These taxes aim to maximize government taxes which are collected to ensure operational efficiency and sustainable development. In contrast, multinational oil companies look beyond conventional taxes by performing a thorough assessment of “crypto tax” while deciding investment locations. Extractive industry taxation literature is limited in offering a scrupulous index. In particular, how a robust index is constructed and tested for these quasi-taxes. Therefore, the issues surrounding the construction and testing of Crypto Tax Assessment Index (C-TAI) underpins the relevance and motivations of this study. Specifically, this study aims to examine the construction and testing of a C-TAI in guiding policymakers and investors concerning crypto taxes. A properly constructed Index would enable governments to undertake environmental and sustainability assessment, knowing that the index suited their particular petroleum fiscal policy. The Malaysian marginal oil field sector was established to test internal and external validities and model fit indices of the C-TAI through surveying the opinions of experts in this field. Taking these views and opinions into consideration, in constructing an appropriate C-TAI, researchers can use the index address possible questions relating to the effects of crypto taxes on individual oil and gas projects or the overall petroleum sector of a country. For instance, how useful the constructed C-TAI could be in the examination the effect of crypto taxes on the profitability of a mature basin? How does the constructed C-TAI could be used in relation to the effect of crypto taxes on the profitability of marginal oil fields and the investment climate of a frontier petroleum basin? In answering these questions, it is anticipated that a properly constructed and robust C-TAI would help to guide policymakers and investors in understanding the importance of a C-TAI for crypto taxes, including sustainable developments.

Background: Mobile filing (m-filing) of tax returns through smartphones is one of the approaches to electronic tax filing. While electronic tax filing was introduced in 2006 in Malaysia, m-filing was only introduced into Malaysian tax system in 2012. Objective: Here the objective is to examine whether a significant statistical difference exists in tax compliance and compliance complexity under pre and post m-filing implementation in Malaysia. Methodology: the analysis was conducted using Kolmogorov-Smirnov Z test which is a non-parametric test for comparison of two groups. Result: the findings revealed that there is a significant statistical difference in tax compliance under pre and post m-filing implementation in Malaysia. Differently, it was found that significant statistical difference exists in compliance complexity under pre and post implementation of m-filing in Malaysia. Implication: the implication here is that Malaysian tax authority needs to devise other means of enhancing tax compliance apart from compliance complexity. Despite the reduction in complexity of payment procedures, the tax compliance remained unchanged. For other developing countries who desire to reduce compliance complexity, they may implement electronic tax system such as m-filing that can reduce complexity and enhance tax compliance.

Significant link has been highlighted in the literature between tax incentive and other endogenous variables such as foreign direct investment and business investment climate. However, perception-based measures of tax incentive using its psychometric properties are limited in oil and gas perspective. Validation of tax incentive dimensions with application to marginal oil fields development projects in Malaysia served as objective of this study. Evidence from content validity, exploratory factor analysis, internal consistency reliability, convergent validity, discriminant validity and model fit indices revealed that tax incentive is factorable into four-correlated dimensions; exemption and abatement, loss relief, tax allowance and tax rate.This finding is limited to Malaysian oil and gas setting, specifically, marginal oil field subsector. More evidences are required from other context to compare findings. Comprehension of literature showed that this is the pioneer study attempted the validation of psychometric properties of tax incentive dimensions using experts’ perceptions. Disaggregating tax incentive in this study into four dimensions could have an implication to policy in oil and gas industry.

This study was undertaken to examine the readability of the Nigerian Company Income Tax Act 2007 (CITA 2007), which is the main reference for taxpayers who have intention to comply. For that purpose, the researchers employed readability formulae namely Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES), Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (F-KGL), Average Sentence Length (ASL) and Percentage of Passive Voice (PPV). FRES measures the readability of technical writing and rates texts on a 0-100-point scale, while F-KGL translates the 0-100 raw FRES into the number of years of education generally required to understand the materials. On the other hand, ASL and PPV deal with average length and percentage of passive voice, respectively. All these measures were calculated using Microsoft Word 2000. The study found that CITA 2007 has low level of readability which made the Act very difficult to understand. Further, the results indicate that CITA 2007 can only be understood by those with tertiary education. The study recommends that tax simplification policy in Nigeria should include language simplification to enable taxpayers to understand the Act correctly which subsequently motivate them to comply voluntarily; and consequently result in more tax revenue to boost the economy of the nation. Keywords: Complexity of tax law; readability; self-assessment system ABSTRAK Kajian ini dijalankan untuk meneliti kebolehbacaan Akta Cukai Pendapatan Syarikat 2007 di Nigeria (CITA 2007) yang merupakan sumber rujukan utama bagi pembayar cukai yang mempunyai keinginan untuk patuh. Untuk tujuan kajian ini, penyelidik menggunakan formula kebolehbacaan iaitu Skor kebolehbacaan Flesch (FRES,) Tahap Gred Flesch-Kincaid (F-KGL)], purata panjang ayat (ASL) dan peratusan ayat pasif (PPV). FRES mengukur kebolehbacaan teknik penulisan dengan memberikan markah ke atas teks berdasarkan skala 0-100, manakala F-KGL menterjemahkan skor FRES 0-100 kepada bilangan tahun pendidikan diperlukan untuk memahami bahan bacaan tersebut. ASL dan PPV, masing-masing mengukur kepanjangan ayat dan peratusan ayat pasif. Semua formula kebolehbacaan ini dikira menggunakan Microsoft Word 2000. Kajian mendapati CITA 2007 mempunyai tahap kebolehbacaan yang rendah dan sukar difahami. Dapatan kajian juga menunjukkan bahawa CITA 2007 hanya boleh difahami oleh golongan yang memperolehi pendidikan di peringkat ijazah. Kajian ini mencadangkan bahawa dasar simplifikasi cukai di Nigeria harus merangkumi simplifikasi bahasa untuk membolehkan pembayar cukai memahami Akta dengan lebih tepat dan menggalakkan mereka untuk patuh secara sukarela; dan akhirnya meningkatkan hasil cukai untuk menjana ekonomi negara. Kata kunci: Undang-undang cukai yang kompleks; kebolehbacaan; sistem taksiran sendiri

The paper proposes a model to examine the effect of the 2010 fiscal regime changes on investment climate of Malaysia's marginal oil fields. It proposes the use of investment appraisal tools, such as Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return, Profitability Index, Saving Index and Access to Gross Revenue, for the study. Two scenarios would be considered using the fiscal terms of Production Sharing Contract (PSC) and Risk Service Contract (RSC), respectively. Each scenario would be of a fifteen-year simulation. Sensitivity analysis will also be conducted for both the scenarios under different prices and reserves levels. The study, when undertaken, will be beneficial to both industry and the government.

This paper examines the assumptions of the Slippery Slope Framework using cross-country data; an area which has been neglected since the emergence of the framework in 2008. Several studies in this area have tested the assumption of the framework using primary data collected through survey with students or real taxpayers as subjects. Hence, this study tests these assumptions using statistical data generated from an institutional database. The empirical result from our sample indicates that trust in and power of authorities strongly interacts in explaining tax compliance.

This study which examines the readability of the Income Tax Act 1967 (ITA 1967) and its associated Schedules is considered important as the materials are the main references for taxpayers who have intention to comply with their tax obligations. Using FRES and F-KGL analysis, it is found that the ITA 1967 and its Schedules are complex to understand. The findings indicate that the materials under study may need to be rewritten. It is hoped that the findings will contribute not only to the body of knowledge but also to the tax authority.

New Zealand is among the early implementers of the self-assessment system that requires voluntary compliance among taxpayers. Despite its long experience (of more than a decade) with the system, its tax authority is still facing the non-compliance issue among their taxpayers. However, very few have been written on this issue. Thus, this study attempts to investigate the underlying reasons for non-compliance behaviour among individuals in relation to their income tax obligation. Data was gathered through telephone interviews with thirty participants, and analysed using thematic analysis. The findings suggest that sources of income, attitude, perceived behavioural control, tax knowledge, tax complexity and fairness perceptions have partly contributed to taxpayers non-compliance behaviour.