Barking Up the Wrong Tree: SMEs' Perception of Tax using the ZMET Method

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) has been a backbone for Indonesian economy over the years. This study aims to explore and gain an in-depth understanding of SMEs' perceptions regarding tax imposed by the government. The study is a qualitative investigation in which nine in-depth interviews with SMEs were conducted based on the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET). The findings reveal deep-seated perceptions in SMEs regarding to tax imposed on them. There are 24 elicited constructs which describe SMEs' mental model of tax. The constructs are framed into four deep metaphors which reflect SMEs perceptions on tax: Distrust to the Government, Misclassification, Mistreatment and Disincentive. This study will contribute to provide suggestion to the government, particularly General Directorate of tax, that in order to give “stick” to SMEs, government may try to give “carrots” in SMEs tax cases. This study contributes to the use of ZMET as a data collecting method to examine issues that tend to be "sensitive". Previously, ZMET has been used widely in marketing research, however this research could prove that other topics of research could also use this method