Developing a governance–trust–tax morale framework for tax compliance: A systematic literature review

Abstract

Tax compliance remains a major challenge for governments worldwide, as voluntary compliance increasingly depends on institutional quality and taxpayers' behavioural motivations rather than enforcement alone. Although governance, trust, and tax morale have been widely examined in previous studies, existing evidence remains fragmented and provides limited understanding of how these factors collectively influence voluntary tax compliance. This study develops a Governance–Trust–Tax Morale Framework for Tax Compliance through a Systematic Literature Review (SLR). Following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, peer-reviewed articles published between 2015 and 2025 were systematically identified from the Scopus database and assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal Checklist. A total of 48 high-quality studies were included in the final synthesis. The review demonstrates that governance strengthens institutional legitimacy, which enhances public trust and reinforces tax morale, ultimately encouraging voluntary tax compliance. The findings further indicate that digitalisation supports this relationship by improving transparency and service quality, although its effectiveness depends on institutional readiness and taxpayers' trust. This review contributes to the tax compliance literature by integrating institutional, psychological, and moral dimensions into a single conceptual framework that extends existing behavioural perspectives on tax compliance. The proposed framework also offers practical guidance for policymakers seeking to strengthen voluntary tax compliance through governance reform, trust-building initiatives, and effective digital tax administration. Overall, this study proposes a novel Governance–Trust–Tax Morale Framework that advances existing tax compliance theory by integrating governance, trust, and tax morale into a unified institutional–behavioural perspective. The framework also provides a foundation for future empirical research across diverse institutional contexts.