Measuring tax aggressiveness using corporate governance mechanism / Roshidah Safeei

This study seeks to investigate tax aggressiveness in the top 100 Malaysian public limited companies using a corporate governance mechanism. In this study, the tax aggressiveness was proxied by the effective tax rate (ETR). The effective tax rate indicates a company’s efforts in reducing its tax payments, thus resulting in lower effective tax rate (ETR). The corporate governance mechanism could influence tax strategies of the company through its control mechanism. This study attempts to determine the relationship between board characteristics and tax aggressiveness of the top 100 Malaysian public limited companies during the period of 2008 until 2011. The data collection process involved an examination of the board characteristics, firm characteristics and tax information. The findings of this study revealed that board characteristics did not influence the tax aggressiveness. On the other hand, firm characteristics such as firm’s size and leverage had influenced the level of tax aggressiveness of top 100 Malaysian public limited companies. The empirical results indicated that the corporate governance mechanism had not influenced the tax aggressiveness among top 100 Malaysian public limited companies

Incorporating Tax Education into Non-Accounting Curriculum: A Malaysian and Indonesian Study

This study examines whether Malaysian and Indonesian colleges and universities need to formally include tax education in all fields of study at all tertiary level. Three hundred forty-nine academicians from Malaysia and 127 from Indonesia answered the survey. The finding shows that both countries’ academicians hold comparable views on the need to include tax education as an elective course in all fields of study. Furthermore, the results show that both respondents have a good grasp of three basic tax facts. Finally, the findings inform policymakers about the necessity of formally incorporating tax education at all tertiary studies. Keywords: Tax education; Tax compliance; Non-accounting curriculum eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2022. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under the responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians), and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v7i21.369

Introducing Tax Education in Non-Accounting Curriculum: Evidence from Academicians

Taxation is the key source of revenue for most developing countries in the world. Despite their reliance on taxes, most governments confront comparable revenue collection issues. For instance, Malaysia had the fourth lowest tax ratio among Asian and Pacific nations. This is quite surprising because a self-assessment system (SAS) has been in place for over two decades, yet voluntary compliance is still missing. Despite this, past research has revealed that Malaysian taxpayers appear to be tax illiterate. Thus, the purpose of the study was (i) to analyze the need for introducing tax subjects in non-accounting curriculums among academicians from non-accounting fields, (ii) to measure tax knowledge among non-accounting academicians, and (iii) to determine the preferences of non-accounting academicians on taxation topics if tax subjects are integrated into non-accounting curriculums. In September 2021, an online questionnaire was sent to all non-accounting academicians within the Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) system over a three-week period. There were 358 responses in all, with 349 questionnaires usable for data analysis. According to the findings, (i) most respondents probably agreed that tax subjects should be taught in all faculties, (ii) 50.4% of respondents demonstrated tax literacy, and (iii) real property and gains tax, tax planning for small businesses, and small company tax were the three most preferred tax topics. Despite the fact that Malaysia’s self-assessment system has been in place for over two decades, 41.8% of respondents had just a moderate understanding of taxes. The findings offer insight into how the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education and the Malaysian Inland Revenue Board may work together to deliver tax education to non-accounting students at the tertiary level. As a result, because the sample was confined to all UiTM academicians from non-accounting fields, the findings should be interpreted and generalized with caution