The Role of Financial Strain and Trust in Government in Shaping Taxpayer Compliance: A Conceptual Review

Abstract

Tax revenue is essential for national development, yet sustaining high levels of tax compliance remains challenging, particularly in regions marked by poverty and income inequality. Sabah, which has the highest poverty rate and some of the widest income disparities in Malaysia, offers a context where financial strain may strongly influence taxpayer behaviour. This conceptual paper examines how financial strain affects individual tax compliance in Sabah by drawing on Prospect Theory to explain behavioural responses under economic pressure and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to clarify how trust in government act as a mediator and mediate the relationship between financial strain and tax compliance intentions. A review of existing literature highlights a notable empirical gap regarding the effects of financial strain on tax compliance in settings characterised by socioeconomic hardship. To address this, the proposed framework incorporates trust in government as a mediating variable, recognising that institutional confidence may transmit or modify the impact of financial strain on compliance. The study contributes theoretically by integrating behavioural economics and TPB, and practically by offering insights for the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (IRBM) in developing more equitable and targeted compliance strategies. It further establishes a foundation for future empirical research.