Augustinos Dimitras a, 1, Vasileios Fourlas a, 2, *, Erich Kirchler b, c, George Peppas a
a School of Social Sciences, Hellenic Open University, Aristotelous 18, Patras 26335, Greece
b Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria
c IHS-Institute for Advanced Studies, Vienna, Austria

ABSTRACT

In environments characterized by low tax morale and pervasive tax evasion, the compliance behavior of micro-business owners remains underexplored. This survey-based study addresses this gap by examining the determinants of both voluntary and enforced tax compliance among a nationally representative sample of 1,761 micro-business owners in Greece. Drawing on the Slippery Slope Framework (SSF) and employing Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression analyses, we find strong support for the framework’s core assumptions: trust in tax authorities is a key predictor of voluntary compliance, while perceived power of tax authorities drives enforced compliance. Notably, women exhibited significantly higher levels of trust and stronger compliance intentions, independent of motivational type. Furthermore, perceptions of fairness, legitimacy, and corruption—alongside emotional responses toward tax authorities—shaped trust levels and indirectly influenced voluntary compliance. These findings highlight the critical role of trust in fostering cooperative taxpayer behavior. We argue that tax authorities should adopt a service-oriented approach grounded in fairness, transparency, and mutual respect to strengthen voluntary compliance in micro-business sectors.