Doreen Musimenta, Sylvia Naigaga, Juma Bananuka and Mariam Ssemakula Najjuma
The purpose of this study is to examine the contribution of tax morale, compliance costs and tax compliance of financial services firms in Uganda.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the contribution of tax morale, compliance costs and tax compliance of financial services firms in Uganda.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is cross-sectional and correlational and adopts firm-level data collected using a questionnaire survey of 210 financial services firms in Uganda from which usable questionnaires were received from 152 financial services firms.
Findings
Tax morale and compliance costs contribute up to 20.6 per cent of the variance in tax compliance of the financial services firms. Tax morale and tax compliance are positively and significantly associated. Results further indicate that compliance costs and tax compliance are positively and significantly associated. National pride and trust in government and its legal systems as dimensions of tax morale independently are significantly associated with tax compliance. Results also indicate that administration costs and specialist costs as dimensions of compliance costs individually are significantly associated with tax compliance.
Research limitations/implications
This study results should be generalized with caution, as they are limited to the financial services firms in Uganda.
Originality/value
Whereas there has been a number of studies on tax compliance in both developed and developing countries, this is the first study on the African scene to examine the contribution of tax morale and compliance costs on tax compliance of financial services firms in a single suite. It is unbelievable that the financial services firms, especially commercial banks which are highly regulated by the central bank in many developing countries, can afford to report tax payables year after year.
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Keywords
Juma Bananuka, Veronica Mukyala, Zainabu Tumwebaze, Johnson Ssekakubo, Musa Kasera and Mariam Ssemakula Najjuma
The purpose of this paper is to establish whether there is a relationship between religiosity, religious preferences, firm age and intention to adopt Islamic financing in an…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to establish whether there is a relationship between religiosity, religious preferences, firm age and intention to adopt Islamic financing in an emerging economy like Uganda which is a secular state and adopting Islamic financing for the first time.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a cross-sectional and mixed-methods design. The authors administered closed-ended questionnaires and these were supplemented by semi-structured interviews.
Findings
Results indicate that religiosity is significantly associated with intention to adopt Islamic financing. Further, religious experience as a dimension of religiosity is significantly associated with intention to adopt Islamic financing unlike ideology. Religious preferences and firm age are also significantly associated with intention to adopt Islamic financing. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) reveals that there are significant differences in between religions whereby Muslims are more ready for Islamic financing than the Christians are.
Research limitations/implications
This study’s main limitation is that it uses evidence from Uganda’s micro businesses which account for 70 per cent of Uganda’s total businesses. It is unclear on whether this study results can be generalized to the remaining 30 per cent of the businesses and if results of this study can be generalized to other national settings.
Originality/value
Islamic financing being an emerging phenomenon on the African continent especially in the Sub-Saharan Africa where most countries are secular states, there are few empirical studies exploring religiosity, religious preferences, firm age and intention to adopt Islamic financing in an emerging economy perspective. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper that provides some insights into religiosity, religious preference, firm age and intention to adopt Islamic financing from a Ugandan perspective using a mixed methods research design.