The impact of information technology on tax administration : a systematic review

Abstract

Background: Information Communication Technology (ICT) continues to play a significant role in transforming the administration of tax. It improves interaction between government and its citizens, transactional and informational. A number of studies have focused on ICT and tax administration, however, the full extent of its impact from these studies remains relatively unknown. This study reviews the literature on tax administration and ICT in order to acquire a structured view of its impact. Main purpose of study: To perform a systematic literature review of published articles to comprehend the impact of ICT on tax administration. This study provides a structured overview of the academic journal publications on ICT and tax administration. Method: This study adopts a systematic literature review approach. Academic articles published between 2007 and 2017 are reviewed to assess the impact of ICT on tax administration. These academic articles were sourced from renowned databases, namely: Scopus, Web of Science and Proquest. Only highly rated ABDC journal articles were analysed for the purpose of this study. Results: A total of 18 academic journals were sourced which specifically discuss ICT and tax administration. The study revealed that ICT positively impacts on tax administration. It creates an enabling environment for effective and efficient tax administration through simplification and continued audits through improved techniques and tools. Furthermore, taxpayer’s perceptions improved as a result of reduced administration costs and increased voluntary compliance, improved governments decision-making strategies through increased revenue collection, tax planning and performance management. Moreover, it improves exchange information between governments through ICT information sharing techniques. Conclusions: The study revealed that ICT affects tax administration as follows: tax simplification, an audit tool, decision-making tool, impacts user perceptions and fairness towards compliance, and an information sharing tool with other tax agencies. However, it is recommended that additional studies should be undertaken from the policy perspective. The scope of this research article can be expanded to include articles published in journals other than the ABDC list and alterative years to that covered in this study.