Behavioral Drivers of Tax Evasion Negotiation Love of Money Knowledge and Moral Reasoning in Indonesia
Abstrak
This study aims to understand tax evasion as a moral-psychological-religious negotiation process, not merely as a legal violation or a rational-economic decision. This study fills a gap in the literature that has been dominated by quantitative and rational-economic approaches, using an interpretive paradigm and a qualitative approach of interpretive phenomenology. The research informants consisted of 14 individual taxpayers and business actors who were purposively selected based on varying levels of love of money, tax knowledge, and religiosity. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and document analysis, then analyzed using thematic analysis. The results show that tax evasion is interpreted as a moral dilemma negotiated through the interaction between the orientation of love of money, tax knowledge, and faith. Love of money acts as a driver of ethical rationalization that increases tolerance for practices in the legal gray area. Tax knowledge is ambivalent, as it can encourage compliance while also being a tool for moral justification. Religiosity does not function as an absolute barrier to tax evasion, but as an internal moral mechanism that gives rise to inner conflict, spiritual reflection, and a process of value negotiation. This research develops a conceptual understanding that tax evasion is the result of a dynamic interaction between psychological, cognitive, and spiritual factors within the taxpayer.
Referensi
Allingham, M. G., & Sandmo, A. (1972). Income tax evasion: A theoretical analysis. Journal of Public Economics, 1 (3–4), 323–338. https://doi.org/10.1016/0047-2727(72)90010-2
Alm, J. (2012). Measuring, explaining, and controlling tax evasion: Lessons from theory, experiments, and field studies. International Tax and Public Finance, 19 (1), 54–77. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10797-011-9171-2
Alm, J., & Torgler, B. (2011). Do ethics matter? Tax compliance and morality. Journal of Business Ethics, 101 (4), 635–651. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-0761-9
Basri, YM (2015). The effect of moral reasoning and religiosity on tax evasion. Asian Journal of Accounting Research, 1 (1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1108/AJAR-2015-01-01-001
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). Sage Publications.
Eriksen, K., & Fallan, L. (1996). Tax knowledge and attitudes towards taxation: A report on a quasi-experiment. Journal of Economic Psychology, 17 (3), 387–402. https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-4870(96)00015-3
Kirchler, E. (2007). The economic psychology of tax behavior . Cambridge University Press.
Kohlberg, L. (1981). Essays on moral development: Vol. 1. The philosophy of moral development . Harper & Row.
Loo, E.C., McKerchar, M., & Hansford, A. (2010). Findings on the impact of self-assessment on tax compliance: A synthesis of the literature. Journal of Economic Psychology, 31 (3), 368–383. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2010.01.002
Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldaña, J. (2014). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook (3rd ed.). Sage Publications.
Rest, J.R. (1986). Moral development: Advances in research and theory . Praeger.
Rest, J.R., Narvaez, D., Bebeau, M.J., & Thoma, S.J. (1999). Postconventional moral thinking: A neo-Kohlbergian approach. Journal of Moral Education, 28 (1), 47–62. https://doi.org/10.1080/030572499103295
Saad, N. (2014). Tax knowledge, tax complexity and tax compliance: Taxpayers' view. International Journal of Economics and Finance, 6 (3), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijef.v6n3p1
Smith, J. A., Flowers, P., & Larkin, M. (2009). Interpretative phenomenological analysis: Theory, method and research . Sage Publications.
Tang, T. L. P. (1992). The meaning of money revisited. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 13 (2), 197–202. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.4030130209
Tang, T. L. P. (2003). Is the love of money the root of all evil? Or different strokes for different folks: Lessons in 12 countries. Journal of Business Ethics, 44 (1), 59–75. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024792815149
Tang, T. L. P., & Chiu, R. K. (2003). Income, money ethics, pay satisfaction, commitment, and unethical behavior: Is the love of money the root of evil for Hong Kong employees? Journal of Business Ethics, 46 (1), 13–30. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024731611490
Torgler, B. (2006). The importance of faith: Tax morale and religiosity. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 61 (1), 81–109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2004.10.007
Welch, M.R., Xu, Y., Bjarnason, T., & Petee, T. (2005). But everybody does it: The effects of perceptions, moral norms, and moral reasoning on tax evasion. Sociological Spectrum, 25 (1), 21–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/02732170490431311
