Introducing Formal Tax Education in Secondary School: A Survey on Malaysian Public’s Perception

Abstract

Taxpayers' compliance level of a country reflects its citizens' knowledge about taxation system and, their connection and trust towards the government. However, low compliance level of individuals' and companies has raised the question of the adequacy and effectiveness of citizen tax knowledge in Malaysia and whether tax education is warranted. This study is an overview on the Malaysian public's perception towards introducing formal tax education in secondary schools. First, it looks at current taxpayer's tax learning experience and their opinion on whether a formal approach in teaching taxation should be introduced. Second, this study also evaluates their opinion, on hindsight, if early tax education would have benefited them when they became liable to tax. Third, the public's perception on the importance of taxation as compared to other related financial literacy knowledge is also evaluated. Findings shows that more than 90% of respondents agreed that early and formal tax education will provide them and future taxpayers with better understanding of the taxation system and their responsibility towards taxes. It is recommended that the Ministry of Education, the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (IRBM) and other related tax agencies should work together towards formally establishing tax education curriculum in secondary school in order to enhance future taxpayers' consciousness towards taxes.

Introducing Tax Education in Non-Accounting Curriculum: Evidence from Academicians

“…As a result, non-accounting students should be taught about taxes. An early and formal tax education will help future taxpayers understand the taxation system and their tax responsibilities [15,20]. The authors of [3] found a significant difference in tax knowledge between Indonesian students who received tax education and those who did not.…”

“…This annual program seeks to provide a variety of tax-related educational activities to students at all levels of education, including elementary, middle, high, and university. In Malaysia, the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (IRBM) has launched several informal education programs for schoolchildren, including tax camps, junior tax officers at Kidzania, speech contests, quizzes, and trips to IRBM offices [15]. It is undeniably beneficial for pupils to understand taxes at a young age, since they will be paying taxes in the future.…”

Early tax education: Could it change the future compliance behavior?

“…According to the Ministry of finance of the Republic of Indonesia in 2018, an increase in tax awareness needs to be done from an early age and should be inculcated in the educational environment from elementary to tertiary level. Tax education must be started early on, through the understanding of tax knowledge on high school students, to be able to increase tax awareness and tax attitudes in the future [10]- [13], this manner also could be applied to school children as a potential taxpayer who has an impact on educated their ability to pay taxes in the future [12], [14].…”