Factors Affecting the Adoption of e-Filing of Income Tax Returns in India : A Survey

This paper evaluates the e-filing trends in India and also discusses the factors affecting the adoption of e-filing system and level of satisfaction among the e-filing system users in India. In the existing literature of behavioral science, there is an extensive use of the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975), Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) (Ajzen, 1985) and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis et al., 1989) to explain the different factors affecting the human behavior and also with special reference to the factors influencing adoption of the e-filing system. This study also uses TPB and TAM for determining the different factors affecting the e-filing adoption in India. For this purpose, a structured questionnaire is framed to get the opinions of the e-filing system users. Primary data so collected are analyzed with the help of different statistical and econometric tools such as mean, standard deviation, principal component analysis, and multivariate probit analysis. The findings of the study suggest that the tax professionals surveyed are very much satisfied with the e-filing system and thus there is a positive behavioral intention towards the entire system. Such a positive intention and level of satisfaction is due to the perceived ease of operation, perceived utility, e-filing website service quality, social influence and cost-effectiveness. The results of the study also reveal that perceived risk associated with the e-filing system negatively affects the level of satisfaction and the behavioral intention of the e-filing system users