The Sociocultural and Institutional factors influencing Tax Avoidance in sub-Sahara Africa

Businesses find ways to reduce their tax while the government also establishes laws and policies to prevent tax avoidance. These conflicting objectives and strategies have heightened the interest in establishing the factors that influence firms’ level of tax avoidance. The study examined a country’s...

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Main Authors: Alfred James Kimea, Msizi Mkhize, Haruna Maama
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2023-12-01
Series:Cogent Business & Management
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311975.2023.2186744
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author Alfred James Kimea
Msizi Mkhize
Haruna Maama
author_facet Alfred James Kimea
Msizi Mkhize
Haruna Maama
author_sort Alfred James Kimea
collection DOAJ
description Businesses find ways to reduce their tax while the government also establishes laws and policies to prevent tax avoidance. These conflicting objectives and strategies have heightened the interest in establishing the factors that influence firms’ level of tax avoidance. The study examined a country’s institutional and sociocultural elements that influence tax avoidance practices by firms in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The study involved one hundred seventy-three (173) listed companies from eight sub-Saharan African countries. The study used a multiple regression analysis technique to estimate the results. The results showed that a country’s institutional settings and particular sociocultural practices impact its firms’ tax avoidance practices. The findings demonstrated that the degree of tax avoidance activities of firms in SSA is influenced by management quality, regulatory quality, auditing quality, culture, and ethics of a country. This result has several policy implications. First, the management of firms can use their resources to lower the tax paid to the government. Governments can also use institutional frameworks to stop businesses from using aggressive tax avoidance strategies. As a result, the study adds to the body of research on the factors influencing tax evasion in emerging markets. The findings align with the institutional theory’s assertions that institutions, laws, and regulations can impact how businesses behave through coercive and normative isomorphism, which can affect how they avoid paying taxes.
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spelling doaj-art-e0d207d464384ee49fdeee232d2c65262025-08-20T02:15:50ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Business & Management2331-19752023-12-0110110.1080/23311975.2023.2186744The Sociocultural and Institutional factors influencing Tax Avoidance in sub-Sahara AfricaAlfred James Kimea0Msizi Mkhize1Haruna Maama2The School of Accounting, Economics and Finance, University of KwaZulu Natal, School of Accounting, Economics and Finance, South AfricaThe School of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Dean of Teaching and Learning, College of Law and Management Studies, University of KwaZulu Natal, South AfricaDurban University of Technology, Financial Accounting Department, Durban, South AfricaBusinesses find ways to reduce their tax while the government also establishes laws and policies to prevent tax avoidance. These conflicting objectives and strategies have heightened the interest in establishing the factors that influence firms’ level of tax avoidance. The study examined a country’s institutional and sociocultural elements that influence tax avoidance practices by firms in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The study involved one hundred seventy-three (173) listed companies from eight sub-Saharan African countries. The study used a multiple regression analysis technique to estimate the results. The results showed that a country’s institutional settings and particular sociocultural practices impact its firms’ tax avoidance practices. The findings demonstrated that the degree of tax avoidance activities of firms in SSA is influenced by management quality, regulatory quality, auditing quality, culture, and ethics of a country. This result has several policy implications. First, the management of firms can use their resources to lower the tax paid to the government. Governments can also use institutional frameworks to stop businesses from using aggressive tax avoidance strategies. As a result, the study adds to the body of research on the factors influencing tax evasion in emerging markets. The findings align with the institutional theory’s assertions that institutions, laws, and regulations can impact how businesses behave through coercive and normative isomorphism, which can affect how they avoid paying taxes.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311975.2023.2186744Tax avoidancetax planningmanagement qualityethicscultureaudit quality
spellingShingle Alfred James Kimea
Msizi Mkhize
Haruna Maama
The Sociocultural and Institutional factors influencing Tax Avoidance in sub-Sahara Africa
Cogent Business & Management
Tax avoidance
tax planning
management quality
ethics
culture
audit quality
title The Sociocultural and Institutional factors influencing Tax Avoidance in sub-Sahara Africa
title_full The Sociocultural and Institutional factors influencing Tax Avoidance in sub-Sahara Africa
title_fullStr The Sociocultural and Institutional factors influencing Tax Avoidance in sub-Sahara Africa
title_full_unstemmed The Sociocultural and Institutional factors influencing Tax Avoidance in sub-Sahara Africa
title_short The Sociocultural and Institutional factors influencing Tax Avoidance in sub-Sahara Africa
title_sort sociocultural and institutional factors influencing tax avoidance in sub sahara africa
topic Tax avoidance
tax planning
management quality
ethics
culture
audit quality
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311975.2023.2186744
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