| Summary: | This article offers insights into the influence of the tax administrator’s power on individual taxpayers’ cognitive and
affective (emotion) attitudes in Malaysia. This article applies a quantitative approach using surveyed questionnaires on
professional taxpayers in Malaysia. A structural equation model (SEM) using AMOS is employed in the data analysis.
Two relationships are reported as insignificant concerning legitimate foundation power with cognitive capitulation and
affective capitulation. The remaining hypothesised relationships are found significant. First, both cognitive resistance
and affective resistance attitude are influenced positively by coercive power. Second, both cognitive capitulation and
affective capitulation attitudes are influenced positively by persuasive power and reward power. Third, cognitive and
affective commitment are influenced negatively by coercive power and positively by the legitimate foundation and reward
power. This article argues that the tax administrator’s power influences both cognitive attitude and emotion, which
means a comparable effect was found on cognitive and affective attitudes. However, harsh power through enforcement
has a greater influence on cognitive defiance attitude than negative emotion. Similarly, the influence of coercive power
(negatively), legitimate foundation and reward power is seen more on cognitive deference attitude than their influence
on taxpayers’ deference emotion. In contrast, using the soft power of persuasive and reward power has more effect
on taxpayers’ deference emotions than cognitive deference. The results suggest that tax administrators implement a
targeted approach in their compliance strategies depending on taxpayers’ attitudes. This targeted approach could yield
the highest compliance level using the minimum resources possible.
|
|---|