Integration and validation of e-commerce tax compliance instrument beyond the conventional methods

Abstract

Tax compliance intention among individuals facilitates the government's pursuit of increased tax revenues, particularly within e-commerce which is driven by users’ behaviours. However, the scarcity of a more robust psychometric instrument for measuring e-commerce users' behaviours and tax compliance intentions, considering technology optimism, remains evident.
Despite the need to report face, content, and pilot study validations, the quest for an improved instrument persists from previous studies. This study addresses these gaps by integrating and developing a new instrument. Employing a multi-stage methodology, the instrument underwent assessment for face and content validity by three university experts. Subsequently, a pilot study involving a sample of 40 SME operators, well-versed in practical e-commerce, was conducted. Data validation was collected on a 4-point rating scale. SPSS version 26 was used for the validation analysis, while the pilot reliability was assessed using SmartPLS version 4. The results highlight the newly integrated instrument's clarity and validity, endorsing its
appropriateness for subsequent data collection and analysis in both pilot and extended ecommerce and tax compliance intention studies, in line with technology optimism measures. This study has implications for the instrument's clarity and validity, adequately fulfilling the psychometric criteria inherent to a newly developed and comprehensively reported instrument.