Factors affecting Maldivian tax auditors' conciliatory style in tax audit dispute resolution

Abstract

Tax auditing is a tool which is used by taxation authorities not only to detect non-compliance but also to help on improving future compliance. As such, in reaching an audit outcome, tax auditors are required to resolve all the disputes with the taxpayer. Previous researches show that tax auditors prefer conciliatory approach of interaction in resolving tax audit disputes because it hastens the audit settlement and promotes long-term compliance. This research to examine the conciliatory approach used by tax auditors in the Maldives. As such, the primary focus of this research was to investigate the personal characteristics of the tax auditors and external factors influencing the conciliatory style of Maldivian tax auditors in resolving tax audit disputes. The variables among the personal characteristics are tax auditor’s attitude towards achieving organisational goals, experience of the tax auditor in the field of tax audit and ethical ideologies of the tax auditor. Cooperation of the taxpayer during the process of tax audit and managerial control over the tax auditor are the variables examined as external factors. The research methodology used was questionnaire, and the questionnaire was adopted from a previous study conducted in Malaysia. Samples for this research were collected through questionnaire distributed among the tax auditors of Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA). All 67 responses received were usable for data analysis. Data was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The findings of the study do not support the findings of previous studies in this area. The results indicate that no variables have a significant impact on use of the conciliatory style by tax auditors in resolving tax audit disputes. This study finds that personal characteristics of the tax auditors and external factors have no influence on the tax auditors’ conciliatory style. The scope of this study is limited to three personal characteristics of tax auditor’s and two external factors, while there might be other factors which may be relevant in use of conciliatory style in tax audit dispute resolution process. Despite these findings, this research provides an in depth understanding on tax auditors and an insight on taxation in the Maldives, and is expected to be instrumental for MIRA and relevant government bodies. Furthermore, due to a limited number of respondents, generalizability of the results may be limited. Thus, future studies may be conducted with different sampling strategies and with increased sample size, to examine various other factors alongside these factors, in the Maldives and other Asian countries to better understand the behaviour of tax auditors.