Date of Conferral

11-5-2025

Date of Award

November 2025

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Management

Advisor

Robert Haussmann

Abstract

The U.S. Department of the Treasury incurs substantial costs due to a tax gap, and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service has limited capacity to implement non-enforcement strategies without a deeper understanding of the behavioral drivers of tax non-compliance. Grounded in the theory of planned behavior, the purpose of this quantitative, correlational study was to explore the relationships between small business owners’ attitudes toward taxation, social norms, perceived behavioral control, and tax compliance behaviors. The participants comprised 121 small business owners in the Atlanta, Georgia, metropolitan area. They completed a combined survey consisting of the ethics of tax evasion survey instrument and the tax compliance inventory. Multiple linear regression and model-building techniques were employed to determine the relationships between nine independent variables and two dependent variables, and to develop predictive models for tax compliance behavior. The findings indicated that the predictive models for tax evasion and tax avoidance culture were statistically significant. The tax evasion model showed F(9, 121) = 39.94, p < .001, and the tax avoidance culture model showed F(9, 121) = 4.18, p < .001. The moral norms, penalty magnitude, and perceptions of government authority were significant predictors of tax evasion culture. The primary recommendation is for policymakers and managers to understand this relationship to ensure equitable treatment across taxpayers and to demonstrate, in tangible ways, how tax revenues get used to benefit the community. The implications for positive social change include the potential for government managers to increase voluntary tax compliance, reduce tax evasion and tax avoidance, and enhance public trust in the tax system.

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