Beyond Administrative Compliance: Moral Legitimation of Tax Obligations among Muslim MSMEs through Qur'an An-Nisa [4]: 59
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24252/jiap.v12i1.71677Abstract
MSME tax compliance is shaped by knowledge, moral values, and authority legitimacy. This phenomenological study examines the experiences of two MSME taxpayers in Gowa Regency, supported by the perspectives of one tax officer and two taxation academics, to understand tax obligations through Qur’an An-Nisa [4]: 59. Compliance is primarily experienced as an administrative practice; procedural understanding does not always coincide with accurate tax-law knowledge; trustworthiness and honesty are more explicit than textual mastery of the verse; and obedience to authority is conditional upon justice, public interest, and legitimacy. The study proposes mediated religious legitimation, a process through which legal obligations acquire religious meaning through knowledge, moral internalisation, and appraisal of authority. Religiosity is treated as a source of meaning rather than a direct cause of compliance.
Keywords: tax compliance; MSMEs; tax morale; religiosity; authority legitimacy
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