Strengthening Turnover Tax Compliance among SMEs in Zambia: A Systematic Review of Behavioral, Institutional and Policy Factors
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53819/81018102t70107Abstract
Turnover tax is designed to make taxation easier for smaller businesses, but a simpler tax base does not remove the practical demands of compliance. Business owners still need to understand the rules, keep basic records, access filing and payment channels, and have enough confidence in the institution administering the system. Against this background, this systematic literature review examines the behavioral, institutional and policy conditions that shape turnover-tax compliance among small and medium enterprises (SMEs), with Zambia as the main setting. The review synthesized 28 substantive evidence and policy context sources identified through Google Scholar, publisher and DOI searches, Scopus-indexed literature, and official or institutional repositories, with a supplementary search completed on 9 August 2026 to strengthen recent Zambia-specific coverage. Study selection was guided by explicit eligibility criteria and PRISMA 2020 reporting principles. Methodological appraisal used MMAT for empirical and mixed-methods studies, AMSTAR 2 for systematic-review evidence, and AACODS for grey and institutional literature; foundational theories were used for conceptual interpretation rather than treated as intervention evidence. Across studies, the most consistent findings concern practical tax knowledge, record-keeping, procedural simplicity, assisted digital access, institutional fairness and credible but proportionate enforcement. Zambian evidence supports the importance of taxpayer education and accessible digital services, while administrative-data research strengthens the evidence base on observed filing behaviour. However, rural, gender-disaggregated and long-term turnover-tax outcomes remain limited. The review therefore presents compliance alignment capability, realistic opportunity and willingness operating within legitimate institutions and credible administrative power as a conceptual synthesis and testable proposition rather than a validated causal model. Policy recommendations are framed as evidence-informed mechanisms for piloting and evaluation rather than guaranteed national effects.
Keywords: turnover tax; SME tax compliance; Zambia; COM-B; tax morale; digital taxation; taxpayer education; formalization
References
Adu-Ababio, K., Jouste, M., Vuoristo, K., Mebelo, M., & Musalale, J. (2026). Effects of targeted border taxes on formalization and tax compliance in Zambia (WIDER Working Paper 2026/78). UNU-WIDER. https://doi.org/10.35188/UNU-WIDER/2026/753-4
Allingham, M. G., & Sandmo, A. (1972). Income tax evasion: A theoretical analysis. Journal of Public Economics, 1(3–4), 323–338. https://doi.org/10.1016/0047-2727(72)90010-2
Becker, G. S. (1968). Crime and punishment: An economic approach. Journal of Political Economy, 76(2), 169–217. https://doi.org/10.1086/259394
Bird, R. M., & Wallace, S. (2005). Is it really so hard to tax the hard-to-tax? International Tax and Public Finance, 12(4), 379–394. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10797-005-1610-1
Hong, Q. N., Pluye, P., Fàbregues, S., Bartlett, G., Boardman, F., Cargo, M., Dagenais, P., Gagnon, M.-P., Griffiths, F., Nicolau, B., O’Cathain, A., Rousseau, M.-C., & Vedel, I. (2018). Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT), version 2018. Canadian Intellectual Property Office.
Horodnic, I. A. (2018). Tax morale and institutional theory: A systematic review. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 38(9/10), 868–886. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-03-2018-0039
Hoy, C., Scot, T., Oguso, A., Custers, A., Zalo, D., Doino, R., Karver, J., & Orgeira Pillai, N. (2024). Trade-offs in the design of simplified tax regimes: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa (Policy Research Working Paper No. 10909). World Bank.
Kirchler, E. (2007). The economic psychology of tax behaviour. Cambridge University Press.
Kirchler, E., Hoelzl, E., & Wahl, I. (2008). Enforced versus voluntary tax compliance: The slippery slope framework. Journal of Economic Psychology, 29(2), 210–225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2007.05.004
Libanda, C., & Kachamba, N. (2026). Factors influencing taxpayer compliance behaviour among small and medium enterprises: Evidence from the clothing sector in Lusaka, Zambia. African Journal of Commercial Studies, 7(3), 8–14. https://doi.org/10.59413/ajocs/v7.i3.2
Mascagni, G., Santoro, F., & Mukama, D. (2019). Teach to comply? Evidence from a taxpayer education programme in Rwanda (ICTD Working Paper No. 91). Institute of Development Studies.
Michie, S., van Stralen, M. M., & West, R. (2011). The behaviour change wheel: A new method for characterising and designing behaviour change interventions. Implementation Science, 6, Article 42. https://doi.org/10.1186/1748-5908-6-42
Msoni, N., & Mahlungu, L. C. (2025). Exploring the influence of turnover tax compliance on financial performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs): A case study of Solwezi Central Business District, Zambia. East African Finance Journal, 4(3), 124–137. https://doi.org/10.59413/eafj/v4.i3.8
Mukuwa, V., & Phiri, J. (2020). The effects of e-services on revenue collection and tax compliance among SMEs in developing countries: A case study of Zambia. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 8, 98–108. https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2020.81008
Nagel, H., Rosendahl Huber, L., Van Praag, M., & Goslinga, S. (2019). The effect of a tax training program on tax compliance and business outcomes of starting entrepreneurs: Evidence from a field experiment. Journal of Business Venturing, 34(2), 261–283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2018.10.006
North, D. C. (1990). Institutions, institutional change and economic performance. Cambridge University Press.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2019). Tax morale: What drives people and businesses to pay tax? OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/f3d8ea10-en
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2020). Supporting SMEs to get tax right series: Strategic planning. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/6bbee510-en
Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., Shamseer, L., Tetzlaff, J. M., Akl, E. A., Brennan, S. E., Chou, R., Glanville, J., Grimshaw, J. M., Hróbjartsson, A., Lalu, M. M., Li, T., Loder, E. W., Mayo-Wilson, E., McDonald, S., … Moher, D. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ, 372, n71. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71
Phiri, E., & Kabwe, M. (2026). An examination of the effect of mobile tax services on tax compliance among SMEs in Zambia: A case study of Lusaka District. African Journal of Commercial Studies, 7(3), 260–269. https://doi.org/10.59413/ajocs/v7.i3.32
Resnick, D. (2021). Taxing informality: Compliance and policy preferences in urban Zambia. The Journal of Development Studies, 57(7), 1063–1085. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2020.1841171
Scott, W. R. (2014). Institutions and organizations: Ideas, interests, and identities (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Seim, B. A. (2019). Barriers to tax compliance for medium, small, and micro enterprises in Zambia (Policy Brief 41429). International Growth Centre.
Shea, B. J., Reeves, B. C., Wells, G., Thuku, M., Hamel, C., Moran, J., Moher, D., Tugwell, P., Welch, V., Kristjansson, E., & Henry, D. A. (2017). AMSTAR 2: A critical appraisal tool for systematic reviews that include randomised or non-randomised studies of healthcare interventions, or both. BMJ, 358, j4008. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.j4008
Simbyakula, T. K., & Hapompwe, C. C. (2024). Effect of turnover tax on small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs) growth in the clothing retail industry: A case study of Lusaka. Journal of Economics, Finance and Management Studies, 7(1), 600–609. https://doi.org/10.47191/jefms/v7-i1-61
Snyder, H. (2019). Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 104, 333–339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.07.039
Tinta, J. K., Zerbo, M., Santoro, F., Diouf, A., & Pale, K. (2024). Electronic services and tax compliance: Evidence from medium and small businesses in Burkina Faso (ICTD Working Paper No. 209). Institute of Development Studies. https://doi.org/10.19088/ICTD.2024.099
Tyndall, J. (2010). AACODS checklist. Flinders University.
Van Huong, V., & Cuong, L. K. (2019). Does government support promote SME tax payments? New evidence from Vietnam. Finance Research Letters, 31, 270–277. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2018.11.017
World Bank. (2024). Zambia public finance review: Strengthening fiscal governance for transformative public sector investments. World Bank Group.
Zambia Revenue Authority. (2025). Annual report 2025. Zambia Revenue Authority.
Zambia Revenue Authority. (n.d.-a). Tax information: Turnover tax. Retrieved August 9, 2026.
Zambia Statistics Agency. (2026). Towards GDP rebasing: 2025 Economic Establishment Census—Preliminary highlights. Zambia Statistics Agency.
Zambia Statistics Agency, & Bank of Zambia. (2026). 2022 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Finance Survey (1st ed.; Reference ID ZMB-ZSA-MSME-2022-V1.0). Zambia National Data Archive.
