Trust in tax institutions  is  important, where taxes are a  source of state  revenue used for development.  Trust in the fiscus affects the compliance of MSME taxpayers.  Cases of tax evasion, such as: the case of Gaius Tambunan have caused an opinion in the public that the tax payments made by taxpayers so far have only been used by certain individuals. Therefore, the low level of tax compliance is not only due to lack of knowledge and less appropriate tax rates, but also because the level of compulsory trust of pajak begins to decline.  The high level of corruption in Indonesia, especially the abuse of power by tax parties/institutions, makes people feel distrustful  and reluctant and indifferent in paying taxes.  One of  the  factors influencing taxpayer compliance  is trust in the authority/fiscus.   What is trust in fiscus/authority?

The definition of trust according to experts  is  as follows: Maharani (2010) Trust is one party’s belief in the reliability, durability, and integrity of the other party in the relationship and the belief that his actions are in the best interest and will produce positive results for the trusted party. Lau and Lee (1999) define trust as a person’s willingness to depend on others with certain risks. Doney and Canon in Aydin and Ozer (2005) stated that trust is a process of calculating (calculative process) between the costs incurred and the results obtained. According to Siagian and Cahyono (2014) trust is a belief from one party regarding the intentions and behaviors directed at the other party, thus consumer trust is defined as a consumer expectation that the service provider can be trusted or relied on in fulfilling its promises. According to Gunawan (2013) trust is defined as a form of attitude that shows feelings of liking and staying afloat to use a product or brand.

Based on   the fundamental social dilemma  concept Lind (2001) states that community members  face a dilemma when deciding their level of involvement in social membership.  Trust in the tax authorities can be interpreted as the  trust given to the  Directorate General of Taxes by  taxpayers in fulfilling  their tax obligations.

References:

  • Arabella Oentari Fuadi and Yeni Mangonting. 2013. Effect of Tax Officer Service Quality, Tax Sanctions and Tax Compliance Costs on Taxpayer Compliance. Tax & Accounting Review, 1(1), pp: 35-42.
  • Dwi, Abidah and Choirun Nisak. 2017. The Effect Of Awareness And Quality Of Service On Taxpayer Compliance In Paying The United Nations.  3 (1), pp : 633-644. ISSN : 2502 – 3764.
  • Fajriyan et al. (2015). “The Effect of Perceptions of the Implementation of the National Tax Census, Attitudes of Taxpayers on the Implementation of Fines and Tax Awareness on Taxpayer Compliance (Study on Individual Taxpayers in Miji Mojokerto Village)”. Journal of Taxation (TRACE) Vol.1, No. 1, 2015.

Image Sources: Google Images