Role of trust in adoption of online tax filing system: E-governance application from taxpayers' perspective

Abstract

Among many e-government services, electronic filing (e-filing) of
personal tax returns are of great demand across world. The purpose of
this study is to investigate factors affecting taxpayers; intention to
adopt e-file systems. This study used Technology Acceptance Model
(TAM) as a conceptual framework to develop one parsimonious yet
explanatory model by integrating multidimensionality of trust (i.e.
trust in government and trust on the internet) with personal
perceptions of risk. Usable responses of 128 taxpayers from North
Gujarat were collected personally through structured self-administered questionnaire. Existing scales from the literature were
used to construct questionnaire. Multiple linear regression analysis
was performed to test hypotheses. The results showed that intention
to adopt e-filing is influenced positively by perceived usefulness
(PU), perceived ease of use (PEoU), trust of the internet and
negatively by perceived risk. Trust in the government failed to
contribute to adoption of e-filing. Proposed model explained 51.8 per
cent of variation in e-file intention. This study can help government
get an insight into role of trust in internet in adoption while
developing trust-based interventions for public communications.
This study is a step forward in e-file adoption by adding integrated
model of e-file adoption literature.