The Taxpayer Demographics’ Influence on Tax Compliance: Case Study of Khulna Tax Region in Jashore District, Bangladesh

Tax revenue is a powerful resource in the world to finance the public expenditures of developed, developing and underdeveloped countries. It is one of the important elements in managing national income, especially in developed countries and has played an important role in civilized societies since their birth thousands of years ago. Tax is defined as ‘a compulsory levy, imposed by government or other tax raising body, on income, expenditure, or capital assets, for which the taxpayer receives nothing specific in return (Lymer and Oats, 2009) [11]. The taxpayers are classified according to the type of taxes that are required to be paid and the expected amount of revenues determined in the budget estimates. This classification is practical and realistic yet there arises the issue of tax payment compliance. A descriptive study was undertaken at the Tax Revenue Authority (TRA), Khulna Tax Region in jashore district Bangladesh, whereby semi-structured questionnaires were used in collection of quantitative data from a total of 50 respondents, i.e., taxpayers. The main findings indicated that there is a relationship between age and sex of the respondent and the tendency towards tax compliance in terms of ability to pay and amount of money payable as tax. Basing on the findings, we recommend that the demographic characteristics of taxpayers be accorded due attention when planning campaigning and implementing the actual revenue collection in term of content and techniques to be deployed. The paper is unique as it introduces demographic characteristics as a component for taxation systems, a new theoretical component. In practice, demographics have to be considered when planning tax education packages and training approaches.