Complexity, Compliance Costs and Non-Compliance with VAT by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Bangladesh: Is there a Relationship?

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Primary Supervisor
Freudenberg, Brett
Copp, Richard
Sarker, Tapan
Year published
2016
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The Value Added Tax (VAT), which has existed for 24 years in Bangladesh, has contributed some 37% on average to total tax revenue over the last 15 years (Saleheen, 2012; National Board of Revenue, 2014). Although, the introduction of a VAT has increased tax revenues and expanded the tax base in Bangladesh, many small and medium enterprise (SME) taxpayers do not comply with the VAT legislation, not only failing to register with the tax authorities as taxpayers but also failing to pay the VAT (Faridy et al., 2014; The Centre for Policy Dialogue, 2014). This non-compliance by SMEs could be intentional or unintentional (NBR, ...
View more >The Value Added Tax (VAT), which has existed for 24 years in Bangladesh, has contributed some 37% on average to total tax revenue over the last 15 years (Saleheen, 2012; National Board of Revenue, 2014). Although, the introduction of a VAT has increased tax revenues and expanded the tax base in Bangladesh, many small and medium enterprise (SME) taxpayers do not comply with the VAT legislation, not only failing to register with the tax authorities as taxpayers but also failing to pay the VAT (Faridy et al., 2014; The Centre for Policy Dialogue, 2014). This non-compliance by SMEs could be intentional or unintentional (NBR, 2011; McKerchar, 2003). Also it may be due to excessive compliance costs (Abdul-Jabbar & Pope, 2009; Governance Institutes Network International, 2014), which could be a result of real or perceived legislative or administrative complexity (Yesegat, 2009), to inefficient VAT administration (Barbone et al., 2012), or to other factors. Alternatively, SME non- compliance could be due to ineffective or under-enforcement of the VAT legislation by the Bangladeshi tax authorities (Saleheen, 2013c).
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View more >The Value Added Tax (VAT), which has existed for 24 years in Bangladesh, has contributed some 37% on average to total tax revenue over the last 15 years (Saleheen, 2012; National Board of Revenue, 2014). Although, the introduction of a VAT has increased tax revenues and expanded the tax base in Bangladesh, many small and medium enterprise (SME) taxpayers do not comply with the VAT legislation, not only failing to register with the tax authorities as taxpayers but also failing to pay the VAT (Faridy et al., 2014; The Centre for Policy Dialogue, 2014). This non-compliance by SMEs could be intentional or unintentional (NBR, 2011; McKerchar, 2003). Also it may be due to excessive compliance costs (Abdul-Jabbar & Pope, 2009; Governance Institutes Network International, 2014), which could be a result of real or perceived legislative or administrative complexity (Yesegat, 2009), to inefficient VAT administration (Barbone et al., 2012), or to other factors. Alternatively, SME non- compliance could be due to ineffective or under-enforcement of the VAT legislation by the Bangladeshi tax authorities (Saleheen, 2013c).
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Thesis Type
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Degree Program
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School
Griffith Business School
Copyright Statement
The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise.
Item Access Status
Public
Subject
Value Added Tax (VAT)
Non-compliance with VAT, Bangladesh
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Bangladesh