Does Entrepreneurial Orientation Shape SME Tax Compliance Intentions? Evidence from Tanzania
Abstract
This study examines the determinants of tax compliance behavioural intentions among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Tanzania and the moderating role of entrepreneurial orientation (EO). Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behaviour, data were collected from 210 food-processing SMEs in Dar es Salaam and analysed using hierarchical multiple regression. Attitude was positively associated with behavioural intention, whereas subjective norm and perceived behavioural control were not significant predictors. EO had no significant direct effect on behavioural intention. However, EO significantly moderated the relationship between attitude and behavioural intention, but in the opposite direction to that hypothesised: the positive association between attitude and intention weakened as EO increased. EO did not significantly moderate the effects of subjective norm or perceived behavioural control. The findings show that tax compliance intentions among SMEs are shaped primarily by attitudes toward tax compliance, while the influence of these attitudes varies with entrepreneurial orientation. The study extends the Theory of Planned Behaviour to SME taxation by showing that entrepreneurial characteristics can condition, rather than uniformly strengthen, the relationship between tax attitudes and compliance intentions.
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