Evaluating the Role of Perceived Usefulness and Ease of Use in the Adoption of “Tax Asaan” Mobile Application: An Application of the Technology Acceptance Model

Abstract

Digital taxation regimes have emerged worldwide as a standard practice to help improve efficiency, transparency, and convenience. The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) launched its mobile application named "Tax Asaan" to enhance tax-related services in Pakistan. But aspects of behavior and software technology that shape user uptake are under-researched. Drawing from the TAM theory, this study aims at analyzing what influences the taxpayers will to use the application. A cross-sectional quantitative survey was performed amongst the taxpayers of Pakistan with 369 valid responses that were obtained through a questionnaire with 7-point Likert-scales. The results were analyzed using the software of SPSS 23 and SmartPLS 4 using the method of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Measurement model has reached acceptable reliability and validity with Cronbach's alpha ranging from 0.855 to 0.927. In addition, the results of structural models showed that the factor of perceived usefulness showed the largest positive coefficient to perceived ease of use (0.852), followed by the positive coefficients of attitude (0.661) and behavioral intention (0.573). Attitude and ease of use had a significant positive impact on behavioral intention while perceived risk had a significant negative impact on attitude as well as behavioral intention. The model accounted for a total of 47.4% of the variance in behavioral intention. The results have shown that the factors which drive the adoption are primarily usability and utility while the main barrier is found to be perceived risk. Policymakers can work on improving the usability of applications, emphasizing the practical benefits, and improving security protocols to create trust amongst users while promoting digital tax reforms.