Ethical organisational culture, effective internal control systems and tax compliance of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs): The role of corporate governance

Literature on tax compliance of SMEs have focused on economic factors, behavioural factors and psychological factors ignoring important factors like ethical organisational culture (EOC) and effective internal control system (EICS) on tax compliance. The study also included corporate governance (CG)...

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Main Authors: Alhassan Musah, Abigail Padi, Marshall Wellington Blay, Daniel Odei Okyere, Benjamin Siaw Ofori
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-01-01
Series:Social Sciences and Humanities Open
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590291125000580
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author Alhassan Musah
Abigail Padi
Marshall Wellington Blay
Daniel Odei Okyere
Benjamin Siaw Ofori
author_facet Alhassan Musah
Abigail Padi
Marshall Wellington Blay
Daniel Odei Okyere
Benjamin Siaw Ofori
author_sort Alhassan Musah
collection DOAJ
description Literature on tax compliance of SMEs have focused on economic factors, behavioural factors and psychological factors ignoring important factors like ethical organisational culture (EOC) and effective internal control system (EICS) on tax compliance. The study also included corporate governance (CG) as a moderator within the unique context of agency theory. The purpose of the study is to examine the effect of ethical organizational culture and effective internal control systems on tax compliance for a sample size of 566 SMEs in Ghana, using corporate governance as a moderating variable. The study collected data using structured questionnaire and analysed same using PLS-SEM. The results of the hypothesis testing showed that ethical organisational culture, effective internal control systems and corporate governance have a significant positive effect on SMEs tax compliance with EIC having the most significant influence on tax compliance behaviour among SMEs. The combined effect of corporate governance and ethical organizational culture strengthens their interactive role in reinforcing tax compliance. Additionally, the interaction between corporate governance and effective internal control system is positive and significant with SMEs' tax compliance in Ghana. The novelty of this study is the inclusion of variables such as ethical organisational culture and effective internal control system as factors influencing tax compliance behaviour of SMEs which have not received much attention in literature.
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institution Kabale University
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publishDate 2025-01-01
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series Social Sciences and Humanities Open
spelling doaj-art-d1cb261f7e954f359a5f17bf4e720c9e2025-08-20T03:30:45ZengElsevierSocial Sciences and Humanities Open2590-29112025-01-011110133110.1016/j.ssaho.2025.101331Ethical organisational culture, effective internal control systems and tax compliance of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs): The role of corporate governanceAlhassan Musah0Abigail Padi1Marshall Wellington Blay2Daniel Odei Okyere3Benjamin Siaw Ofori4Corresponding author.; Takoradi Technical University, Department of Accounting and Finance, Takoradi, GhanaTakoradi Technical University, Department of Accounting and Finance, Takoradi, GhanaTakoradi Technical University, Department of Accounting and Finance, Takoradi, GhanaTakoradi Technical University, Department of Accounting and Finance, Takoradi, GhanaTakoradi Technical University, Department of Accounting and Finance, Takoradi, GhanaLiterature on tax compliance of SMEs have focused on economic factors, behavioural factors and psychological factors ignoring important factors like ethical organisational culture (EOC) and effective internal control system (EICS) on tax compliance. The study also included corporate governance (CG) as a moderator within the unique context of agency theory. The purpose of the study is to examine the effect of ethical organizational culture and effective internal control systems on tax compliance for a sample size of 566 SMEs in Ghana, using corporate governance as a moderating variable. The study collected data using structured questionnaire and analysed same using PLS-SEM. The results of the hypothesis testing showed that ethical organisational culture, effective internal control systems and corporate governance have a significant positive effect on SMEs tax compliance with EIC having the most significant influence on tax compliance behaviour among SMEs. The combined effect of corporate governance and ethical organizational culture strengthens their interactive role in reinforcing tax compliance. Additionally, the interaction between corporate governance and effective internal control system is positive and significant with SMEs' tax compliance in Ghana. The novelty of this study is the inclusion of variables such as ethical organisational culture and effective internal control system as factors influencing tax compliance behaviour of SMEs which have not received much attention in literature.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590291125000580Ethical organisational cultureEffective internal control systemsCorporate governanceTax complianceSMEs
spellingShingle Alhassan Musah
Abigail Padi
Marshall Wellington Blay
Daniel Odei Okyere
Benjamin Siaw Ofori
Ethical organisational culture, effective internal control systems and tax compliance of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs): The role of corporate governance
Social Sciences and Humanities Open
Ethical organisational culture
Effective internal control systems
Corporate governance
Tax compliance
SMEs
title Ethical organisational culture, effective internal control systems and tax compliance of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs): The role of corporate governance
title_full Ethical organisational culture, effective internal control systems and tax compliance of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs): The role of corporate governance
title_fullStr Ethical organisational culture, effective internal control systems and tax compliance of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs): The role of corporate governance
title_full_unstemmed Ethical organisational culture, effective internal control systems and tax compliance of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs): The role of corporate governance
title_short Ethical organisational culture, effective internal control systems and tax compliance of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs): The role of corporate governance
title_sort ethical organisational culture effective internal control systems and tax compliance of small and medium scale enterprises smes the role of corporate governance
topic Ethical organisational culture
Effective internal control systems
Corporate governance
Tax compliance
SMEs
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590291125000580
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