Voluntary Versus Enforced Tax Compliance: Empirical Evidence From Digital-Based Freelancer Data

The Slippery Slope Framework shows that tax compliance behavior is influenced by the dimensions of trust and power that exist in the relationship between taxpayers and the government. Although the Slippery Slope Framework has been tested by many empirical studies, there is still a lack of research targeting shadow economy actors. Therefore, this study is dedicated to examining the existence of these dimensions and their influence on the perception of tax compliance among digital-based freelancers in Indonesia. A total of 408 digital-based freelancer taxpayers were obtained through an online questionnaire survey and analyzed using a stepwise linear regression model. The results showed that perceived government power was positively correlated with approval of voluntary tax compliance. However, this study could not find the effect of perceived government power or trust in government on enforced tax compliance. These findings only partially confirm the Slippery Slope Framework. This study aims to expand the literature on the influence of trust and power on voluntary or enforced tax compliance in developing countries facing a shadow economy, particularly in Asia.