KONAKA 2013
Inves Investigating tigating the Perceptions Perc eptions of Taxpayer T axpayer towards the Adoption Adoption of Individual Electronic Tax Filing System (E-Filing): A Case Study on UiTM UiTM Pahang’s Accounting Accounting Lecturers NurSyazwa NurS yazwani ni Mohammad Mo hammad Fad zilla h Moha mad Ridh uan Mat Dang i
ABSTRACT The ado ption of E-Filing system is to provide an app licatio n on filling and filing the inco me tax return form form that can be made electronically through the in ternet (Inland (Inland Revenue Board Board Malaysia). It It is initiated in Mala ysia in the year 2006 20 06 as part of the E-go vernment services mainl y to provide prov ide a conveni con venient ent way for taxpayers paying their taxes. The Inland Revenue Board Malaysia (IRBM) is the responsible government institution to manage the tax paying p rocess rocess and it can be done either manually or through through the E-Filing E-Filing system. With the th e objecti ve to enco urag e citizens citi zens using usin g ICT, the t he E-Filing system if it is u sed prop erly can provide prov ide many ben efits such as redu cing the opera o peratin ting g cost of o f coll ectin g tax, tax , reducin g error, savin g time and providi prov iding ng a user friendly friendl y servi ce. Howev er, the th e u se o f E-Filin g system in Mala ysia has h as no t yet ach ieved ieve d the th e high remarks. remarks. This is supported by the study conducted by Ramoo Ramoo (2006 ) which reported that only 120,000 tax returns done through E-Filing represents only 1.2% of the population of taxpayers. While KwaiFattand Ming Ling ( 200 8) indi cates cate s tha t there are users who a ttempt to use E-Filing for th e conveni conv enience ence,, speed filing and to get faster tax refund whereas there are also users who in tend to use E-Filing b ut failed to do so du e to the slow networks thus discourage them to proceed using the system. Therefore this paper attempts to investigate the users' perceptions towards the use of the E-Filing system in terms of the awareness, satisfaction satisfact ion , easin ess, risk expo sure and usefulness usefuln ess in using usin g the system by focusing focusi ng on UiTMPahan g ’s ’s accounting lecturers as the respondents. On average, the result reflects positive perception of taxpayers towards the implementation of e-Filing system for their tax assessment. Further, most of the respondents agree and strongly agree that they are aware of the e-Filing system and also agree to be satisfied with the services provided prov ided in e-Filin g system. In addit ad dition ion , respon dents den ts agree tha t e -Filing system is easy to use, neither agree nor disagree that e-Filing system is risky and they agree that e-Filing system is useful to taxpayers. filing, perception s on E-Filing E-Filing , tax automation, Malaysia Keywords : electronic filing,
Introduction The taxation taxation sys tem is is one of the initiati initiatives ves of the government or ruler of a nat ion in ensuring the economic economic growth and distribution of wealth among the citizens. According to Engen and Skinner (1996), the countries that can organize tax resource efficiently tend to enjoy a faster growth rate rather than the countries with lower and inefficient tax collection. Thus, paying taxes can be considered as the responsibility of an individual liable liable to be taxed cont ribut ribut ing so me portion o f financial financial payments payments from their the ir income to the tax ta x agencies (Masui and Nakazato, 1999). As in Malaysia, the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (IRBM) is the respon sible institution as the main revenue collecting collecting ag encies and managing tax admini administration stration in Malaysia. Malaysia. According to IRBM in its official website, the individual with annual income of RM26, 501 after deducting the Employee Employeess Provident Fund (EPF) (EPF) is eligible t o register a tax file. file. Starting from 2006, IRBM has shifted the traditional method to computerized system, called e-Filing sy stem. st em. The new sys tem allows allows taxpayers to fulfill fulfill their res respo pons ns ibility ibility in in paying pay ing taxes taxes electronically. electronically. However, the traditional method still applies to the taxpayers who still prefer the manual system. According to Ibrahim (2012), the e-Filing refers to the electronic filing or electronic lodgement or electronic declaration of tax returns in a computer file file format format th rough roug h internet connect con nect ion. The employ employm ment o f e-Fi e -Fili lingis ngis one on e of the ways in the e-government program to achieve the objective of vision 2020 in encouraging the knowledge bas ed so ciety amon among g citizens citizens . By trans forming forming the methods eth ods in the taxpay taxpay ing s ys tem, th e gov ernment has taken a step further to provide a more convenient way for the citizens and encouraging them to fulfill their responsibility in paying taxes. This is supported by Kamarulzamanand CheAzmi (2010) that the adoption of 288
KONAKA 2013
e-Fil e-Filing ing provides the benefit for the us ers in terms terms of convenient, easy, flex flexibl iblee and cos t saving for the users. The implementation of technology usage is always associated with the rapid flow of information and communication, thus it can benefit not only the users but also to the IRBM itself. Similarly, e-Filing also can aid us ers to quickly quickly and automaticall automatically y ch eck for errors errors or oth er missing missing information information du ring ring the proces s of filing the tax (Meenal and Garg, 2012). However, despite the benefits, there is also a high concern towards the security level among the users that become the barrier in the effectiveness of e-Filing implementation. According to Meenal and Garg (2012), the main aspect of security often questioned by the users of e-Filing includes the confidentiality, integrity and availability. Since the e - filing system is an approach of adopting technology in the tax administration system which which involves the changes of taxpaying taxpaying method , there will will b e b arrier arrierss or challenges challenges arise arise s ince not all all users can barely accept the changes. This is because the study conducted by Ramoo (2006) reported that only 120,000 tax returns done through e-Filing represent only 1.2% of the population of taxpayers. While KwaiFattand Ming Ling (2008) indicates that there are users who attempt to use e-Filing for the convenience, speed filing and to get faster tax refund whereas there are also users who intend to use e-Filing but failed to do s o due to the s low networks networks th us discourage them to proceed us ing the computeriz computerized ed sy stem. Hence, other than the concern o n t he s ecurity ecurity level of e-Fili e-Filing, ng, it is is also neces sary to identify identify the acceptance level and the perceptions percep tions of u sers se rs towards e-Fili e-Filing ng s ys tem.Many tem.Many previous stud st udies ies and p ast as t researches resea rches h ave taken s teps tep s to review the perceptions and acceptance level of users regarding to the adoption of e-Filing. From Ibrahim (2012) cited that there are two major theories used in predicting the e-Filing acceptance which is the theory of reasoned action (TRA) (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975; Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980) and Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). (TPB). Meanwhile Meanwhile Davis Davis (198 (1989) 9) develops the Technology Accep tance Mod el (TAM) (TAM) focus focus on the u ser’s acceptance towards computer computer or techn ology that on ly compri comprises ses of two two determinants determinants that is perceived usefulness and perceive ease of use. In the mean time, Wang (2002) adapts this Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to measure the individual’s computer self efficacy efficacy bas ed on perceived of usefulness, perceive ease of use and perceive of credibility on the behavioral intention in using e-Filing system. Illias et al. (2008) also use TAM to measure the user acceptance of taxpayers towards using the e-Filing system focuses in Labuan F.T. Other than these researchers, many pas t researches researches have s hown a series series of s tudie s us ing TAM to measure the users’ users ’ perception to wards wards the ad option o f e-Fili e-Filing. ng. Hence, in this pap er, the researchers intend t o review review the perceptions perceptions of UiTM UiTM Pahang’s staffs by con sidering sidering t he eas iness, readiness readiness , awarenes awarenes s, usefulness usefulness and th e risk risk expos expos ure in the adoption o f e-Fili e-Filing ng sys tem. tem.
Literature Review Back ground to Malaysi ane-Filingta ane-Fili ngtax x s ystem and imple implementat mentatio ion n
E-Filing implementation was introduced by a government agency called IRBM. It allows taxpayers to submit their income income tax details details online online and is cons idered idered as an alternative alternative to t he us ual manual manual paper su bmission. bmission. EFili Filing ng was first first introduced introduced in 2006 2006 and has since u ndergone a progress ive im improvement provement with a more more robus t engine promised to the users. For, example, the e-Filing application is not only limited to Internet Explorer browsers browse rs like like before, taxpay taxpay ers can now no w also us e other oth er browse rs like like Firefox Firefox and Opera to reach re ach IRBM IRBM wherever they are in the country. A big picture of implementing e-Filing system is that it integrates tax preparation, preparat ion, tax fili filing ng and tax paym pay ment, which serves se rves as a major adv antage anta ge over ove r traditional manual anu al proced ures. ures . With the e-Fili e-Filing ng sy st em, em, taxpayers and tax practitioners can file file their income tax returns electronically via the enabling technologies, rather than through mail or physically visiting the tax offices. This may eventually make the art of tax filing and tax payment easier. There were twofold objectives of implementing e-Filing system by the charged agency LHDN. First, is for the agency to become more effective in the operational and processing tasks involving tax filing returns (Ambali, 2009). For example, it has been realized that using manual system limits the ability to proces s tax files files exped expediti itious ous ly and s ubs equent equ ently ly caus ing a lot of delay in collections of income tax. tax. In addition, given that the volume of taxpayers is increasingly rising in the country, additional manpower and time time are required to screen tax returns returns if the dat a h as to be manuall manually y entered into the databas e. Thus Thus , itit is is believed that implem implementa entation tion of e-Fili e-Filing ng sy stem st em would signif sign ificantly icantly st reamli reamline ne the proces s, improv improvee the accuracy of the tax returns returns and reduce transcribing transcribing error that ch aracteriz aracterizes es th e manual manual b ase s ys tem .
289
KONAKA 2013
Second objective is to better serve the interest of the taxpayers by overcoming their difficulties in using paper base system and to encourage voluntary compliance of the taxpayers in filing their tax returns (Ambali, 2009). Thus, the implementation of e-Filing system serves as an alternative channel for taxpayers to reach the agency. In other words, implementation of e-Filing system is expected to provide greater convenience for taxpayers by allowing them to file their tax returns at anytime and from anywhere within the stipulated tax filing period. Taxp Taxpayers’ ayers ’ perception erc eption regarding re garding awarenes awarenes s of of e-Filing tax system
Awareness of e-Filing tax system can be seen from many aspects. For example, awareness of e-Filing proced ures, ures , time time lim limit of return, IRBM’s IRBM’s website address add ress , e -payment and terms and conditions in using eFiling tax system (Geetha and Sekar, 2012). The awareness among taxpayers can be created through many so urces; annou ncement ncement by IRB IRBM in newspap ers, friends friends , tax agent, tax seminar seminar and workshop workshop , internet internet and so on. In the study conducted by Geetha et al. (2012), they found that most of the individual tax payers are not aware aware of th e e-Fili e-Filing ng and e-payment e-payment p rocedures. One of th e reason s for the lack of awareness awareness includes a continued preference preference b y taxpayers taxpayers and certain seg ments of tax practitioners practitioners for p aper fili filing. ng. Taxp Taxpayers’ ayers ’ perception erc eption regarding re garding satis faction of e-Filing tax system
The use of the internet and the information and communication technologies (ICT) has become very important to the government (Majed, 2007). The electronic government implementation is expected to lower cost and gives the citizen satisfaction in using the services of government organization. Hence, the implementation of electronic government is for providing information and services to the citizen through internet. internet. It is to make sure that g overnment overnment s ervices ervices is av ailable ailable online online throug h internet. Satisfacti Satisfactio o n level can be meas ured from various aspect as pect s. Geeth a R. Et al. (2012) (2012) fou nd that tha t 89% 89% of the respond resp ond ents are highly satisfied with with the e-Fil e-Filing ing p rocedure and it is ranked first, first, 61% 61% o f the respo respo ndent s are satisfied satisfied with with s afety of e-Filing and on the other hand, 4% of the respondents are highly dissatisfied withthe acknowledgement generated. Taxp Taxpayers’ ayers ’ perception erc eption regarding r egarding ri s k exposur exposuree of e-Filing tax system
As far as security issue is concerned it is obvious that people rarely worry about security in the physical world. world. Most of them, even while while filing filing the paper-bas ed t ax returns, nev er both er to find find out who is is in charge of the post office where they will post their returns or do they worry about the percentage accuracy of pos tage tag e delivery services. se rvices. But, when it comes to e-Fili e-Filing ng,, people peo ple go out to extraordinary extraordinary length to worry about the security of their information required in the system. The reason for such inconsistent behavior might be that security violations in Internet-based systems have received much notoriety in the popular sections of press and mind of the people all over the world. It is this perception of security in the online transactions that causes majority ajority of th e taxpayer taxpayer po pulation pulation to b e reluctant reluctant to use this alternative alternative medium medium of filing their tax returns (Ambali, 2009). People may perceive that current facilities in electronic tax filing website as not adequately secure. This may also lead to a general belief that electronic transactions are inherently insecure and that any hacker can break into the computer system and can steal and misuse their confidential confidential person al data inform information. ation. If a us er is is able to feel that the sy stem is is well secu red and trust worthy worthy he/s he will will be able to put trust into the website and us e it. it. On On e can easily easily argue that pub lic lic users will will have no doub t in trus ting Malaysian federal and s tate gov ernment ernment websites for providing providing inform information. ation. However, However, us ers can s till till be s ceptical in the manner the ag ency is g oing to trans mit or st ore their inform information ation provided. Taxp Taxpay ayers ers ’ perception regarding easi ness of e-Filing tax system
Easiness can be defined as the extent to which a person believes that using the system will be free of effort (Davis, F.D., 1989). The e-Filing system facilitates the tax filing whereby the tax payers can easily fill the form anywhere and anytime. The perceived ease of the e-Filing system is an aspect that lead to the tax payer’s pay er’s perception percep tion to us e e-Filing system. . It means that, they expect the system is easy to use. If the tax payers pay ers feel difficult difficult to us e the sy stem st em,, they will will probably prob ably not us ing the sy stem st em available. Memiyan Memiyanty, ty, Jasmine, Rozainun, Khamsi and Zurina (2012) conducted a study on the easiness of e-Filing. The study revealed revealed t hat 47.6 47.6% % of the respon dents agree that it it is is eas y to us e. To To further strengh ten on the eas iness of eFiling 48.8% respondents find e-Filing to be positive. Respondents were also asked if they become 290
KONAKA 2013
confusedusing e-Filing, on which majority disagree to the statement. Majority agreed that it was a wise decision to turn to e-Filing. Taxp Taxpay ayers ers ’ perception regarding usefulness us efulness of e-Filing tax system
Usefulness can be defined as the extent to which a person believes that using the system will enhance his or her job performance. Most of the respondent’s perception towards e-Fil e-Filing ing sy stem is us eful to them because it can help the tax payers to interpret their tax much easier (Zaherawati, Zaliha, Zuriawati, Nazni, Mohd Zool Hilmie, Shahrul Faizah and Suhaili, 2009). The perception of tax payers towards the usefulness electronic tax filing start with the technology acceptance which is very important to the tax payers. If the tax payers do accept technology then they will definitely want to use the system. However, the perception towards an electronic filing system may also vary between people in urban area with people in rural area (Zaherawati et al, 2009). Differences to perceive the usefulness of technology will give different impact to people in believing t he benefits ben efits o f tech nology. nolog y. Some pe ople will will have a pos itive itive beli be lief ef on techno tech nology logy and so me peop le may n ot be in th e s ame ame beliefs. beliefs. The pos itive itive b eliefs eliefs dr ive individual individualss towards n ew technologies, which which they believe that t hat by us ing techn t echn ology their work get s eas ier, fas faster ter and will will create create th em comfortab comfortable le feeli feeling ng to us e it in their own workplace or at home. Despite, the negative beliefs may hold them back. They may feel that the new techn ology or the electronic electronic fili filing ng s ys tem just waste their time time and energy becau se they have to take time time to learn learn new thing, need them to st ay in front front o f the computer computer for a long hou r to use th e sy stem properly. properly.
Rese Re sear arch ch Method M ethodology ology The research design for this research is cross-sectional studies. This study can be done in which data are gathered over a period period of d ays . The data was analyzed analyzed us ing stat istical so ftware ftware tool (SPS (SPSS S 21.0 21.0)) with with the us e of Descriptive Statistics. The populations of accounting lecturers at UiTM Pahang are 37. The researchers sample size for this study is 54 percent from the population which is 20accounting lecturers as the respondent. Accounting lecturers were selected since majority of them have a knowledge in taxation area. The respondents were given a set of question that consists 7 sections to measure the perception, awareness, satisfaction, easiness, risk exposure and usefulness including of the profile of respondents. The researchers us e s imple imple random sampling sampling in s electing electing the resp onden ts. The respond ents were chosen in order to know the questionnaires constructed are reliable and understood by the respondents. The questionnaire consists of 5 Likert scale that begins with 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). This set of questionnaire is adapted from various literatures such as Geetha and Sekar (2012); Mcleod et al. (2009);Ramoo (2006) and Davis (1989).
Result and Discussion Profile of Respondents
As shown in Table 1, the total number of respondents is 20. A majority of the respondents are female, representing represe nting 75% 75% and the remaining remaining 25% 25% are male. male. Further, res respo ponde ndents nts are a re categ orized orized into into four fou r age groups. They consist of respondents ranging from 21-30 years old, 31-40 years old, 41-50 years old and 50 years old and above. The result shows majority of respondents are in the age of 31-40 years old, which amounted to 45%, followed by 35% in the group of 21-30 years old, 15 % in the group of 41-50 years old and 5 % in the group o f 50 50 years and above. W ith regards regards to edu cation level, level, majori majority ty of respon dents are at Mast er Degree level of education, represent ing 90%, foll followed owed by the group o f respo respo ndent s in PhD education level with 5%, and Degree education level with 5%. In terms of working experience, 45% of the respondents have working experience of less than 5 years, 25% of them have 11-15 years working experience and 15% of them with the working experience of 6-10 years and more than 15 years. 70% of the total respondents pay tax. tax. All of the resp ond ents previously previou sly cho se e-Filing e-Filing tax sy stem st em as th eir preferred meth method od to file file the tax. Table 1 :Profile of Respondents Frequency Frequency
Gender en der
Male Female
Age Ag e
21 - 30 Years 291
Percent Percent (%)
5 15
25.0 75.0
7
35.0
KONAKA 2013
31 - 40 Years ea rs 41 - 50 Years ea rs 50 Years & Abo ve
9 3 1
45.0 15.0 5.0
1 18 1
5.0 90.0 90.0 5.0
9 3 5 3
45.0 45.0 15.0 25.0 15.0
Education du cation Level
Bachelor Degree Mas ter Degree PhD
Worki Wo rking ng Experience
Less es s Than 5 Years 6 – 10 – 10 Years ea rs 11 – 11 – 15 15 Years ea rs 15 Years & Abov Ab ovee
Tax Payment
Yes No
14 6
70.0 30.0 30.0
Preferred Meth Me thod od
E-Fil E-Filing ing Manual Man ual
20 0
100.0 100.0 0
N = 20 20 Perceptions Perc eptions of taxpayers taxpayers toward towardss e-Filing e-Fili ng tax s ystem Table 2: Analysis o f taxpayer’s taxpayer’s perception towards e-Filing system Frequency value Statements/Items
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree
(% )
(%)
(%)
(%)
(% )
Mean
1.
Learning to us e e-Fili e-Filing ng sy stem st em would be easy for me
0.0
5.0
5.0
45.0
45.0
4.30
2.
I would find find it easy to prepare an income tax filing using e-Filing system
0.0
0.0
0.0
60.0
40.0
4.40
3.
It would would be eas y for for me to become become skillf skillful ul at using e-Fili e-Filing ng sy stem st em
0.0
0.0
5.0
65.0
30.0
4.25
4.
I would find find e-Fili e-Filing ng sy st em eas y to use
0.0
0.0
5.0
55.0
40.0
4.35
5.
Using e-Fili e-Filing ng sy stem st em would improve my performance in preparing income tax filing filing
0.0
0.0
15.0
40.0
45.0
4.30
6.
I feel nervous abou t using an eFiling system
5.0
20.0
30.0
30.0
15.0
2.70
7.
Using e-Fili e-Filing ng sy stem st em would improve my productivity in preparing income tax filing filing
0.0
0.0
15.0
45.0
40.0
4.25
8.
I believe e-Filing e-Filing will will s ave av e my time time when fili filing ng tax returns
0.0
0.0
10.0
25.0
65.0
4.55
9.
Using e-Fili e-Filing ng sy stem st em would enhance my effectivenes effectivenes s in preparing income tax filing filing
0.0
0.0
10.0
45.0
45.0
4.35
0.0
0.0
10.0
40.0
50.0
4.40
10. I would find find e-Filing e-Filing sy st em us eful in preparing income tax filing
292
KONAKA 2013
Table 2 above sh ows the results o f taxpayer’s taxpayer’s perception to wards wards the implem implementation entation of e-Filing system for the tax asses sment proces s. There are 10 item itemss used to measu measu re the level level of taxpayer’s taxpayer’s perception gauged by five Likertscale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Averagely the result reflects positive perception percep tion of taxpay taxpay ers towards the implem implementa entation tion of e-Fili e-Filing ng sy st em for their tax ass as s essment. es sment. This is depicted by the majority of response given by respondents showing high percentage towards agree and strongly agree to all the statements. In addition, the mean for each item are more than 4 except for the statement 6 which reported 2.70. The highest mean reported by statement 8 by 4.55 which they believe that e-Filing system save their time when filing tax returns. This is followed by the statement 2 (4.40) with most respondents perceived that e-Filing system really made the preparation of income tax become more easy. Consequently, statement 10 also stated the same mean (4.40), where the respondents believe that e-Filing system is really useful for them to prepare the income tax. Meanwhile statement number 6 intended to analyze whether the respondents feel nervous when using the e-Filing system. It shows that most of the respondents still feel nervous in using this system since there are 30% stated agree and 15% stated strongly agree compared to 5% stated strongly disagree and 20% stated strongly disagree. Meanwhile, 30% respondents stated they are neutral, neither agree nor disagree. This situation can happen because of several factors. One of them might relate relate to the readiness of the taxpayers to u se e-Fil e-Filing ing sy stem when they shifted from the traditional t ax fili filing ng which is the prep aration of o f tax manu manuall ally. y. Awarenes Awarenes s of taxpayers taxpayers toward towardss e-Fili ng tax s ystem
taxpayer’s awareness awareness towards e-Filing system Table 3: Analysis of taxpayer’s Frequency value Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree
(% )
(%)
(%)
(%)
(% )
Mean
Statements/Items
1.
I aware of filing filing tax ta x
0.0
5.0
0.0
35.0
60.0
4.50
2.
I aware of e-Filing e-Filing proced pro ced ure
0.0
0.0
5.0
40.0
55.0
4.50
3.
I aware of e-form e-fo rm
0.0
0.0
15.0
30.0
55.0 55.0
4.40
4.
I aware of time limit limit of return ret urn
0.0
5.0
5.0
40.0
50.0
4.35
5.
I aware of LHDN’s website address
0.0
5.0
5.0
30.0
60.0
4.45
6.
I aware of us ing the computer computer so ftware for e-Filing e-Filing
0.0
5.0
15.0
25.0
55.0
4.30
7.
I aware of tax registration number
5.0
5.0
15.0
35.0
40.0
4.00
8.
I aware aware o f term terms and con ditions ditions us ing e-Fili e-Filing ng tax
5.0
5.0
20.0
45.0
25.0
3.80
This This study also managed managed to gather data about the respondent respondent s ’ information regarding to their awareness about e-Filing system and the results are presented in Table 3. Overall, there are only small percentage for the respon se of s trongly d isagree and disagree for s tatements tatements 1, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 which which stated abou t 5%. 5%. Only Only statement 2 and 3 show no report for the response of strongly disagree and disagree. Based on the reported mean score, it can be said that on average most respondents choose to agree and strongly agree for most of the statements. Majority respondents are aware of the existences of e-Filing system where 35% agree and 60% strongly agree with the mean 4.50. The same mean score (4.50) reported by the respondents ’ awareness about e-Fil e-Filing ing p rocedure reported by agree (40%) (40%) and s trongly agree (55 (55%). %). Subsequ ently, the mean mean sco re 4.45 is reported which shows that respondents are aware of the LHDN’s website as reported by 30% agree and 60% strongly agree to this statement. Most respondents are also aware of the e-form provided in the eFiling system showing the mean score of 4.4 with 30% reporting agree and 55% reporting strongly agree. Although there is no respon se for disagree and strong ly disagree for for this this stat ement, ement, 15% 15% of resp resp onden ts put their judgment as neutral. The same goes for statement 6 and 7 which reported 15% and 20% for statement 8 where the resp onden ts stated they are are neutral for tho se statements. Besides Besides that, the respond ents are generally generally 293
KONAKA 2013
aware of using software for e-Filing, tax registration number and the time limit of return in e-Filing system. The respond ents who are aware of the terms terms an d cond itions itions in using e-Fili e-Filing ng s ys tem stated by 45% agree agree and 25% strongly agree, meanwhile 20% of respondents stated as neutral and 5% stated as agree and strongly disagree resp ectively. ectively. Satisfaction for using e-Filing Table 4: Analysis of taxpayer’s taxpayer’s satisfaction towards e-Filing system Frequency value
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree
(% )
(%)
(%)
(%)
(% )
Mean
Statements/Items
1.
I satisfy with the e-Filing proced ures
0.0
5.0
20.0
45.0
30.0
4.20
2.
I s atisfy atis fy with the th e s afety of e-Filing e-Filing
0.0
5.0
15.0
55.0
25.0
4.00
3.
I s atisfy with with the accuracy of eFiling
0.0
5.0
15.0
45.0
35.0
4.00
4.
I satisfy sa tisfy with with the time time lim limit given for e-Filing
0.0
5.0
15.0
35.0
45.0
4.10
5.
I s atisfy with with the acknowledgement acknowledgement g enerated by eFiling system
0.0
5.0
5.0
50.0
40.0
4.20
6.
I s atisfy with with the eas iness of eFiling
0.0
0.0
15.0
45.0
40.0
4.25
7.
I satisfy with the availability of eFiling
0.0
0.0
25.0
40.0
35.0
4.25
8.
I satisfy with the facilities provided prov ided by e-Fili e-Filing ng
0.0
0.0
20.0
40.0
40.0
4.10
9.
I s atisfy with with the pay ment proced ures
0.0
0.0
35.0
45.0
20.0
3.85
The researchers also measured the satisfaction level of taxpayers towards the use of e-Filing system which results are tabulated in Table 4. For all the statements given, there is no response of strongly disagree reported b y respon dents . Wh ereas, for s tatements tatements 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, and 5, 5, each of them recorded 5% 5% respond ents stated they disagree to these statements. However, there is no response for disagree reported by respondents for the statements 6, 7, 8, and 9. In general, as shown by mean scores, most of the respondents appear to be satisfied with the services provided in e-Filing system although there are also respondents that reported the respon se of neu tral for for all statements. The highes t mean sco res reported from from statements statements 6 and 7 that is 4.25 4.25,, indicated indicated that the respon dents are satisfied satisfied with the eas iness and th e availabil availability ity of fil filing ing provided in e-Fili e-Filing. ng. This is follow followed ed by the mean sco res of 4.20 4.20 sho wing wing th e respon dents are satisfied satisfied with with the acknowledgement acknowledgement generated in the e-Fil e-Filing ing s yst em indicated indicated by 50% 50% agree an d 40% strong ly agree for this this s tatement. tatement. Another mean sco re of 4.20 4.20 shows t he respo ndent s are satisfied satisfied with with the e-Fil e-Filing ing procedures des ignated by 45% agree and 30% 30% strong ly agree. Other than that, the respo ndents are also also satisfied with with the facili facilities ties provided and th e time limit given for e-Filing as indicated by the mean score 4.10 for both statements 4 and 8. Another two statements reported the same mean score (4.00) is for statements 2 and 3 that illustrate respondents are satisfied with the safety and accuracy of e-Filing. Meanwhile, for the statement of the respondents ’ satisfaction towards the payment procedures recorded the mean of 3.85 3.85 by 20% for strongly agree, 45% 45% for for agree and 35% 35% stated they are neutral.
294
KONAKA 2013
Easiness of using e-Filing Table 5 : Analys is of easiness of using e -Fil -Filing ing Frequency value Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Disagree
Statements/Items
1. Learning t o e-file e-file an income tax return would be easy for for me 2. It would would b e easy for me me to beco me s kill killful ful at us ing the income tax e-Filing system 3. It is easy to organize organize information needed in online tax filing 4. Online tax fil filing ing is more more flexible 5. Overall, I find online on line tax efili filing ng sy stem easy than manual
Strongly Agree
Mean
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
0.0
0.0
5.0
50.0
45.0
4.40
0.0
0.0
10.0
50.0
40.0
4.30
0.0
0.0
5.0
55.0
40.0
4.35
0.0
0.0
20.0
40.0
40.0
4.20
0.0
0.0
0.0
60.0
40.0
4.40
Table 5 above shows the results of taxpayers’ perception regarding the easine ss of using e-Filing system. 5 ques tions were were as ked to the respon dents . Overall Overall,, resp resp onden ts agree that e-Fili e-Filing ng sy stem is is eas y to us e. This This is proven when the mean score for all statements is more than 4.Further, majority of respondentswhich represented by highest percentage agree to the all five statements. While none of the respondents strongly disagree or d isagree with all the statements which which indicates that the e -Fil -Filing ing sys tem is not d iffi ifficult cult to be u sed . Among those statements, statement 1 and 5 reported the highest mean of 4.40. For statement 1, 50% of respon dents agree th at learning learning t o e-file e-file an income income tax return return would be easy, followed followed by 45% strongly agree and the remaini remaining ng 5% neither agree nor disagree. While While for statement statement 5, 60% 60% of the responden ts agree that tax e-Filing system is easy than manual and the rest of 40% strongly agree. In contrast, the lowest mean of 4.20 4.20 is is reported by statement 4 where 40% 40% of th e resp onden ts agree and strong ly agree that online online tax fili filing ng is more more flexible flexible but bu t 20% 20% of the m are neutral. neut ral. Risk Ris k exposure exposure of usi ng e-Fil e-Filing ing
Statements/Items
1.
2.
Table 6: Analysis of risk exposure of using e-Filing Frequency value Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Disagree
It is hard for personal tax information to remain confi con fiden den tial with with e-Fili e-Filing ng
Privacy Privacy is not well well maintained with e-Filing system 3. Unauthorized Unauthorized parties parties could monitor my e-Filing activities 4. My privat privatee information information and tax filing information could be logged logg ed by unauth una uth orized orized parties an d subse sub seque quently ntly disclosed without without my my cons ent
Strongly Agree
Mean
(%) 0.0
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
15.0
55.0
20.0
10.0
3.25
0.0
30.0
40.0
15.0
15.0
3.15
0.0
25.0
20.0
40.0
15.0
3.45
0.0
25.0
15.0
40.0
20.0
3.55
295
KONAKA 2013
0.0 Use of e-Filing method can 25.0 30.0 30.0 15.0 3.35 caus e my my person al income income tax information to be stolen 6. I will feel uneasy 15.0 45.0 30.0 30. 0 10.0 0.0 2.35 phy siologically if I us e eFiling method 7. It is is riskier riskier to file file taxes taxes online 15.0 35.0 30.0 30. 0 15.0 5.0 2.60 than manual based Results of taxpayers’ perception regarding risk exposure of using e -Filing system are presented in Table 6 above. In general, the respondents neither agree nor disagree that e-Filing system is risky since the mean score of all statements is close to 3. Based on the result also, it shows that responses by respondents to each statement are inconsistent. Majority of respondents are neutral with the statement 1and 2 since the highest percentag percen tagee is at neu tral scale, sc ale, whichmeans whichmeans they the y neither agree nor disag ree that tha t p erso nal tax ta x inform information ation is hard to remain confidential with e-Filing and privacy is not well maintained with e-Filing system. However, most of them agree with statements 3, 4 and 5 with the percentage of 40%, 40% and 30% respectively. This explains respondents agree that unauthorized parties could monitor their e-Filingactivities and their private inform information ation an d tax fil filing ing information information co uld be logged by un autho riz rized parties and s ubs equent ly disclosed disclosed withou withou t t heir cons ent.Besides, ent.Besides, they agree t hat the us e o f e-Fi e-Fili ling ng method can caus e their perso perso nal income income tax inform information ation to be s tolen. In o ther words, th ey b elieve elieve e -Fil -Filing ing s yst em is is not safe an d risky.The risky.The reason might might be due to lack o f us ers’ con fiden fidence ce in the Internet taxtax-filing system’s ability to protect the user’s personal inform information ation and security, accidental los los s and alteration alteration or d estruction.In contrast , for st atements atements 6 and 7, the highest percentage of 45% and 35% respectively is at disagree level.This indicates the respondents mainly disagree that they will feel uneasy physiologically if they use e-Filing method and they disagree e-Filing is riskier than manual based. 5.
Usefulness of e-Filing
Statements/Items
Table 7: Analysis o f usefulness of e-Fili e-Filing ng Frequency value Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Disagree
Strongly Agree
Mean
(%)
(%)
(% )
(%)
(%)
0.0
5.0
0.0
40.0
55.0
4.45
0.0
0.0
0.0
40.0
60.0
4.60
5.0
5.0
15.0
35.0
40.0
4.00
0.0
0.0
15.0
35.0
50.0
4.35
0.0
0.0
25.0
30.0
45.0
4.20
6. Learning earning to op erate the sys tem is easy for me.
0.0
0.0
10.0
45.0
45.0
4.35
7. I find/would find/would find find the s ys tem easy to us e.
0.0
0.0
10.0
50.0
40.0
4.30
8. The sys s ys tem makes fili filing ng income tax more interesting. 9. I like filing my return with the system.
0.0
0.0
25.0
30.0
45.0
4.20
0.0
0.0
10.0
40.0
50.0
4.40
1. I find/would find the e-Filing sys tem useful to complete complete my income tax. 2. Using the s ys tem enables me to acco mplish my fili filing ng more quickly. 3. If I use us e the s ys tem, I will will get my tax refund more quickly. 4. Using the sys tem would would sav e my cos ts of fili filing ng my tax return. 5. My interaction interaction with th e sys tem is/would is/would be clear and understandable.
296
KONAKA 2013
As indicated in Table 7 above, the result of ta xpayers’ perception regarding the usefulness the usefulness of e-Filing is present pres ented. ed. On av erage, respond resp ond ents agree that th at e-Filing e-Filing sy st em is us eful to taxpay taxpayers. ers. This is prov en when t he mean score for all statements are more than 4. The highest mean score of 4.60 is reported for statement 2. Mean score of 4.60 which close to 5 indicates that respondents strongly agree the e-Filing system enables them to accomplish their filing more quickly. The result is supported by the highest percentage of 60% at strongly agree scale and the remaining 40% at agree scale. While, the lowest mean score of 4.00 is reported for statement st atement 3 which means that respon resp onden dents ts agree t hey will will get their the ir tax refund quick qu ickly. ly. However, 5% of the respondents strongly disagree and disagree that they will get the tax refund quickly. By looking at the table, it can be seen that there are also 5% of the respondents that disagree e-Filing system is useful to complete their income tax. Other than statements 1 and 3, none of the respondents strongly disagree and disagree with with all the statements.
Conclus Conclus ion and Recomm Re commee nd ndations ations On average, the result reflects positive perception of taxpayers towards the implementation of e-Filing sy stem for for their tax ass essment. Further, most most of the respo ndent s agree and s trongly agree that they are aware with with the e-Fil e-Filing ing s ys tem and also agree to be sat isfied isfied with with the s ervices ervices provided in e -Fil -Filing ing sys tem. tem. In In addition, addition, res pond ents agree that e-Fil e-Filing ing sys tem is easy to u se ,neither ,neither agree nor disag disag ree that e-Fil e-Filing ing sys tem is risky and they agree that e-Filing system is useful to taxpayers. There is recommendation from the researcher bas ed o n t he findings in order to ass ists IRB IRBM t o b e transparent in E-F E-Fil iling ing practiced practiced in in Malaysia at large. Thus, to increase many tax payers to use e-Filing through the internet can be done by giving them more expos expos ure on how to us e th e s yst em itself. itself. The tax payers need to know in in depth ho w to us e the e-Fil e-Filing ing system. Moreover, the government should give more time for the tax payers that do not know how to use computer and internet because e-Filing systems can be more convenient to the consumers that know how to use computer and internet but not for those who does not know about. The government of Malaysia should build full trust of the t he tax payers to us e e-Fili e-Filing ng sy stem st em to create positive po sitive perception percep tion towards it. The e-Fili e-Filing ng sy stem mus mus t be proven to be th e bes t method method for the tax payers to use it. By building building trust o f the tax paye rs, it it can lead to the higher level confidence of the tax payer to use e-Filing system through internet. Moreover, more clear define define guidelines guidelines sh ould b e taught , so that the tax payers do not face diffi difficulti culties es to u se the s ys tem itself. itself. The IRBM IRBM sh ould have specific specific approach to increase more more tax payers to us e e-Fili e-Filing ng sy stem in in future.
References Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1980). Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behaviour . Behaviour . Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Ambali,A.R.(2009). E-Government Policy: Ground Issues in E-Filing System. Europ System. European ean Journal Jou rnal of Social So cial Sciences, 11(2), p 11(2), p..249-266. Davis, F.D.(1989). Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS MIS Quarterly , 13(3 ), p.319-3 p.319-339. 39. Engen, E.,& Skinner J. (1996).Taxation and Economic Growth. Nati Growth. Nati ona l Tax Jou rnal. rnal . Vol. 49, No. 4 ., p. 617-42. Fishbein, M., & Ajzen, I. (1975). Belief, Belief, Attitude Attit ude,, Intentio Inten tion n and Behaviou Beha viou r: An Introd In troducti ucti on to Theory and an d Research . Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley. Geetha, R.,& Sekar, M. (2012).E-Filing of Income Tax: Awareness and Satisfaction level of individual Tax pay ers in Coim Coimbat batore ore city, India Ind ia.Research .Research Journal of Management Sciences, 1(4), p.6-11. p.6-11. http://www.hasil.gov.my/goindex.php?kump=5&skum=1&posi=1&unit=1&sequ=1.
297
KONAKA 2013
Ibrahim, I. (2012). Factors Underpinning Usage Behaviour of an Electronic Filing System: The Case of Malaysian Personal Taxpayers.2012. Australian Austral ian Tax Teachers Teach ers Associatio Associa tion n (ATTA) Con ference (HDR Student – Paper Paper Presentation), Illias, A., MohdSuki, N.,& Yasoa, M. R., (2008). A Study of Taxpayers’ Intention in Using E -Filing System: A Case in Labuan F.T s. Jou s. Jou rnal o f informatio n and an d compu ter science. scien ce. Vol. 1, No. 2, 2 , p. 110-119. Kamrulzam Kamrulzaman an,, Y., Y., CheAzm CheA zmi, i, A. A. (2010). (2010). Tax E-fil E-filing ing Ado ption pt ion in Malay s ia: A Con Concep cep tual tu al Model.Journal Model.Journal of E-Government E-Government Stud ies and Best Practices. Vol. 2010 , p. 1-6. KwaiFatt, C., Ming Ling, L. (2008). Electronic Tax Filing System: Taxpayers’ Perspectives. Seventh Wuhan Interna tional tio nal Con ference on E-Business: E-Busin ess: Unlock Unlo ck ing the Full Poten tial tia l of Global Glob al Techno log y, Vol. Vol . 1 , p.338-34 p.338-343. 3. Majed, Al-Mashari, (2007).A Bechmarking Study of Experiences Eelectronic.Government. Benchmark Bench marking ing : An Interna tional tio nal Journ J ourn al , (14) , 2, p.172-18 p.172-185. 5.
with
Mas ui, Y., & Nakazato, Nakazato , M. M . (1999). (1999). Persona Persona l Income Taxation Taxat ion . p. 139-164. Mcleod, A., Pippin S., Mason R. (2009). Individual Taxpayer Intention to Use TaxPreparation Software: ExaminingExperience, Trust, and Perceived Risk. Journal Jou rnal of Informatio n Science Sci ence and a nd Technol Tech nol ogy, ogy , 6 (1) , p. 25-44 25-44.. Meenal.,& Garg G.(2012), E-Filing of Taxes - A Research Paper. Internati Intern ationa ona l Journal Jou rnal of Enterprise Enterp rise Computing and Business Systems.Vol.2, Systems.Vol.2, Issue Issue 1. Memiyanty, A.R., Jasmine, A., Rozainun, A.A., Khamsi, C.A.H.,& Zurina, M.N. (2012).The promotion of Electronic Filing Technology. IEEE IEEE Symposium Sympo sium on Humaniti es, Science Sci ence and an d Engi neering neeri ng Research ,p.1603-1606. ,p.1603-1606. Ramoo, V. (2006). Determinan Determinan ts of Perceived Percei ved Ease of o f Use of e-Filin g .Research .Research report. Wang, Yi Shun. (2002). The adoption of electronic tax filing systems: an empirical study. Government 352. Information Qua rterly. Vol. 2 0, p. 0, p. 333 – 352. Zaherawati, Z., Zaliha, H., Zuriawati, Z., Nazni, N., Mohd ZoolHilmie M.S., ShahrulFaizah S.,& Suhaili, O.K. (2009). E-Filing System Practiced by Inland Revenue Board (IRB): Perception towards Malaysian Taxpayers. Cross-cultural Communication, 5 (4), p.10-20 p.10-20.. NUR NUR SYAZW SYAZWANI ANI MOHAMMAD MOHAMMA D FADZILL FADZILLAH, MOHAMAD RIDHUAN RIDHUAN MAT DANGI. DANGI. Universiti Teknologi MARA (Pahang).
[email protected],
[email protected].
298
