Effects of some macroeconomics variables on estimated tax evasion: evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

Purpose: Most research on tax evasion focused on microeconomic variables revolving around perceptions and decisions of individual taxpayers. However, a new wave of research is now investigating the role of macroeconomic variables in inducing tax evasion. This study adds to the limited studies in thi...

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Main Authors: Ya'u, Abba, Umar, M.A., Yunusa, N., Rengasamy, Dhanuskodi
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2024
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/95098
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author Ya'u, Abba
Umar, M.A.
Yunusa, N.
Rengasamy, Dhanuskodi
author_facet Ya'u, Abba
Umar, M.A.
Yunusa, N.
Rengasamy, Dhanuskodi
author_sort Ya'u, Abba
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Purpose: Most research on tax evasion focused on microeconomic variables revolving around perceptions and decisions of individual taxpayers. However, a new wave of research is now investigating the role of macroeconomic variables in inducing tax evasion. This study adds to the limited studies in this new direction of research. Previous studies found that inflation, low gross domestic product (GDP) growth and gross fixed capital formation causes recession, increases unemployment, raise interest rates, hurts both domestic and foreign direct investments. This study examined the relationship between these variables and estimated tax evasion in Sub-Saharan Africa. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopts a correlation research design with 2,300 data points collected from 23 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, tax to GDP ratio, gross fixed capital formation per GDP and the GDP annual growth report from each country for the period 2011–2020 was retrieved. Generalised least square regression technique was employed to analyse the data due to the presence of heteroskedasticity in the model and random effect was utilized based on the Hausman test. To avoid misspecification and biased result; therefore, all relevant test was conducted including the multicollinearity test. Findings: The results indicate that GDP annual growth and gross fixed capital formation have a significant negative impact on estimated tax evasion in Sub-Saharan Africa. The findings further indicate a negative but insignificant relationship between inflation and estimated tax evasion in Sub-Saharan Africa. The study concludes that both GDP annual growth rate and gross fixed capital formation negatively influence estimated tax evasion and the policy implications in the African continent were discussed. Originality/value: The new findings on the effects of GDP annual growth, growth fixed capital formation and inflation on estimated tax evasion provide novel knowledge that is currently lacking in the current literature, specifically Sub-Saharan African continent.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-950982024-06-10T08:06:06Z Effects of some macroeconomics variables on estimated tax evasion: evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa Ya'u, Abba Umar, M.A. Yunusa, N. Rengasamy, Dhanuskodi Purpose: Most research on tax evasion focused on microeconomic variables revolving around perceptions and decisions of individual taxpayers. However, a new wave of research is now investigating the role of macroeconomic variables in inducing tax evasion. This study adds to the limited studies in this new direction of research. Previous studies found that inflation, low gross domestic product (GDP) growth and gross fixed capital formation causes recession, increases unemployment, raise interest rates, hurts both domestic and foreign direct investments. This study examined the relationship between these variables and estimated tax evasion in Sub-Saharan Africa. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopts a correlation research design with 2,300 data points collected from 23 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, tax to GDP ratio, gross fixed capital formation per GDP and the GDP annual growth report from each country for the period 2011–2020 was retrieved. Generalised least square regression technique was employed to analyse the data due to the presence of heteroskedasticity in the model and random effect was utilized based on the Hausman test. To avoid misspecification and biased result; therefore, all relevant test was conducted including the multicollinearity test. Findings: The results indicate that GDP annual growth and gross fixed capital formation have a significant negative impact on estimated tax evasion in Sub-Saharan Africa. The findings further indicate a negative but insignificant relationship between inflation and estimated tax evasion in Sub-Saharan Africa. The study concludes that both GDP annual growth rate and gross fixed capital formation negatively influence estimated tax evasion and the policy implications in the African continent were discussed. Originality/value: The new findings on the effects of GDP annual growth, growth fixed capital formation and inflation on estimated tax evasion provide novel knowledge that is currently lacking in the current literature, specifically Sub-Saharan African continent. 2024 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/95098 10.1108/AJEMS-06-2023-0233 restricted
spellingShingle Ya'u, Abba
Umar, M.A.
Yunusa, N.
Rengasamy, Dhanuskodi
Effects of some macroeconomics variables on estimated tax evasion: evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa
title Effects of some macroeconomics variables on estimated tax evasion: evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa
title_full Effects of some macroeconomics variables on estimated tax evasion: evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa
title_fullStr Effects of some macroeconomics variables on estimated tax evasion: evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa
title_full_unstemmed Effects of some macroeconomics variables on estimated tax evasion: evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa
title_short Effects of some macroeconomics variables on estimated tax evasion: evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa
title_sort effects of some macroeconomics variables on estimated tax evasion: evidence from sub-saharan africa
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/95098