Trust in government and electronic levy payment decisions in Ghana

Abstract

Governments in many developing countries have consistently experienced budgetary shortfalls due to several problems, including tax evasion and avoidance. An important social capital identified in the literature that drives an individual's behaviour towards responding positively to taxation is trust. Leveraging on the theory of trust, we disaggregate trust in government into trust in the Legislature, Executive, and Judiciary and investigate the extent to which trust in any of the three arms of government drives behavioural changes towards the decision to pay for the electronic levy in Ghana. Using a survey approach and a regression analysis, we show evidence that trust in any of the three arms of government is a key driver of individuals' decisions to pay for the electronic transaction levy. In order of importance, trust in the Executive explains more of an individual's payment behaviour, followed by the Judiciary, then the Legislature. This study highlights the role of trust in the three arms of government, especially the Executive in committing to the government's tax-related policies.