The relationships between tax penalty, tax audit, monetary tax reward, non monetary tax reward and voluntary tax compliance among academic staff in UUM

Malaysia has introduced various programs and initiatives to enhance voluntary tax but the country continues to face significant challenges in achieving widespread compliance among taxpayers. The issue of non-voluntary tax compliance is evident as the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (IRBM) successfully collected RM6.34 billion from tax audits and penalties which reflecting attempts by taxpayers across various categories to evade their tax obligations. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between tax penalty, tax audit, monetary tax reward and non-monetary tax reward and voluntary tax compliance among academic staff at Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM). Data was collected through an online questionnaire survey which distributed to 285 academic staffs in UUM that is the population of the study. 84 usable responses were received form respondent and multiple regression analysis was employed to investigate the relationships between these variables using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The results reveal that while tax audits and monetary tax rewards have a significant positive impact on voluntary tax compliance, tax penalties and non-monetary tax rewards do not show significant effects. This study provides valuable insights into the effectiveness of different deterrence and reward mechanisms in promoting tax compliance among academic staff. The findings contribute to the literature on tax compliance and offer implications for policymakers aiming to enhance voluntary compliance strategies in taxation context