Existing research conducted outside of New Zealand shows that the influence of education on taxpayer compliance has mixed effects, where increased levels of tax education can enhance compliance or enhance non-compliance. Hence, the impact of tax education on taxpayers’ compliance behaviour is still unclear. This research investigates the impact of tax education on taxpayer compliance in New Zealand, to determine whether increasing taxpayer education levels in New Zealand secondary schools would help to enhance taxpayer compliance behaviour and attitudes towards the tax system. Furthermore, the role of tax education in New Zealand requires further empirical research to determine the impact of education on tax compliance, an analysis of tax education research in a New Zealand context undertaken by Sawyer and Tan (2020) revealed only one publication from 2004. This shows a lack of research undertaken on this topic in New Zealand and requires further analysis. Hence, this study has been conducted in New Zealand to contribute to further research in this area and bridge this gap in the literature. This study will employ a mixed-method research design, comprised of two identical surveys of first-year undergraduate students taking separate courses at the University of Canterbury (UC), and semi-structured interviews of high school teachers across New Zealand.

The surveys utilised replicate and extends the study conducted by Morgan and Castelyn (2018), who researched tax education and its impact on taxpayer compliance in an Australian context in 2018. The questionnaire used in the surveys mainly replicated Morgan and Castelyn’s (2018) questionnaire, with adjustments made to better suit the New Zealand context, to analyse students’ opinions and attitudes towards taxes and New Zealand’s tax system. In addition, interviews of high school teachers across New Zealand were conducted utilising a semi-structured approach. This allowed the researcher to analyse the feelings and opinions of those who would be conferring this information to students, to determine if the current curriculum contains any tax education and if teachers believe it would be beneficial for it to be included. The survey results provide a baseline of students’ attitudes and education levels, while the findings of the semi-structured interviews allow the researcher to see this topic through the lens of high school teachers for a more holistic view.