A systematic literature review on the determinants of voluntary tax compliance: gaps in context, methodology, and study variables

This systematic review highlights the growing importance of voluntary tax compliance as a significant research domain. This study aims to systematically review the literature on voluntary tax compliance, identify dominant methodological approaches, and outline future research directions. This paper addresses three review questions: (1) What is the current state of literature on voluntary tax compliance across various economic contexts? (2) What methodological trends are prevalent in this research? (3) What underexplored areas necessitate further investigation? The review encompassed 73 studies published within 2015 to 2025 from four prominent academic databases, following a strict scientific approach. VOSviewer software and spreadsheets analyzed the collected information. The bibliometric analysis demonstrated five key thematic areas and identified significant research gaps in the areas of technology and ethical/ social norms. Findings revealed that a significant portion of studies are focused on developing countries, predominantly employing quantitative methods. This review emphasizes the need to consider underexplored determinants, including personal values, cultural norms, and technological factors and synthesizes the literature on voluntary tax compliance, emphasizing geographical and methodological trends. It provides insights for academics, practitioners, and policymakers aiming to create transparent, equitable and trust-based tax systems that promote sustained compliance.This systematic review highlights the growing importance of voluntary tax compliance as a significant research domain, where low compliance severely restricts public revenue. This study aims to systematically review the literature on voluntary tax compliance, identify dominant methodological approaches, and outline future research directions. This paper addresses three review questions: (1) What is the current state of literature on voluntary tax compliance across various economic contexts? (2) What methodological trends are prevalent in this research? (3) What underexplored areas necessitate further investigation? A systematic review of literature was conducted, encompassing 73 studies published within 2015 to 2025, sourced from four prominent academic databases, namely Lens, Emerald, Scopus, and Google Scholar in voluntary tax compliance. Research used VOSviewer software and spreadsheets to analyze the collected information and used tables, graphs, and figures to present the results more precisely. A bibliometric analysis was also conducted, and it demonstrated five key thematic areas and identified significant gaps in technology oriented research, as well as lack of interest in the scholarly work in relation to ethical and social norms. The risk of bias of inclusion was assessed very low as the study followed a strict scientific approach using the process suggested by Tranfield et al. and PRISMA flow diagram. Findings revealed that a significant portion of studies are focused on developing countries, predominantly employing quantitative methods. In contrast, qualitative, mixed-method, and cross-country comparative analyses are notably scarce in these contexts. This review advocates for a more balanced methodological approach and emphasizes the need to consider underexplored determinants, including personal values, cultural norms, and technological factors. This review synthesizes the literature on voluntary tax compliance, emphasizing geographical and methodological trends. It provides insights for academics, practitioners, and policymakers aiming to create transparent, equitable, and trust-based tax systems that promote sustained compliance.