Unmasking Ethical Bias in Tax Behavior: A Study of Machiavellian Traits, Emotional Intelligence, and Love of Money
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study employs a behavioral accounting perspective to analyze the influence of Machiavellian Traits and emotional intelligence on ethical attitudes toward tax evasion, with love of money as a mediating variable. Using purposive sampling of 100 accounting students from three universities in Central Java who had completed auditing and taxation courses, data were analyzed using PLS-SEM. Results indicate that Machiavellian Traits, emotional intelligence, and money attachment significantly influence ethical judgments regarding tax evasion. Love of money was found to mediate the relationship between Machiavellian Traits and emotional intelligence with ethical assessments. This triadic model demonstrates that ethical tax decisions are influenced by personality traits, value systems, and cognitive factors. The findings provide implications for ethics education, behavioral tax policy, and designing compliance frameworks that consider individual psychological profiles, challenging conventional assumptions and expanding existing knowledge boundaries.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Licensed under 
a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
References
Ajzen, I. (1985). From intentions to actions: A theory of planned behavior. In J. Kuhl & J. Beckmann (Eds.), Action control: From cognition to behavior (pp. 11–39). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-69746-3_2
Akuntansi, J., & Ratulangi, U. S. (2018). Pengaruh kecerdasan emosional terhadap persepsi etis mahasiswa akuntansi. Jurnal Akuntansi, 13(4), 381–388.
Alm, J., & Torgler, B. (2011). Do ethics matter? Tax compliance and morality. Journal of Business Ethics, 101(4), 635–651. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-0761-9
Aprilianto, R., & Achmad, T. (2017). The influence of emotional intelligence, intellectual intelligence and love of money on students’ perceptions of the ethics of the accounting profession (S1 Accounting students at Diponegoro University). Diponegoro Journal of Accounting, 6(2). https://ejournal3.undip.ac.id/index.php/accounting/article/view/18241
A Asih, N., & Dwiyanti, K. (2019). Pengaruh love of money, Machiavellian, dan equity sensitivity terhadap persepsi etika penggelapan pajak (tax evasion). E-Jurnal Akuntansi, 26(2), 1412–1434. https://doi.org/10.24843/EJA.2019.v26.i02.p21
Aziz, T. I., & Taman, A. (2015). Pengaruh love of money dan Machiavellian terhadap persepsi etis mahasiswa akuntansi (Studi empiris pada mahasiswa akuntansi UNY angkatan 2013 dan 2014). Jurnal Nominal, 4(2), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.21831/nominal.v4i2.7998
Danti, D. S. R. (2015). Mampukah religiusitas memoderasi pengaruh Machiavellian, equity sensitivity, dan love of money terhadap perilaku etis mahasiswa akuntansi?. Jurnal Akuntansi Multiparadigma, 6(3), 430–445.
Danti, D. R. S., & Oktaviani, M. R. (2020). Mampukah religiusity memoderasi pengaruh Machiavellian terhadap tax evasion? Dinamika Akuntansi, Keuangan dan Perbankan, 9(1), 25–32. https://www.unisbank.ac.id/ojs/index.php/fe9/article/view/7941
Dewi, P. E. D. M., Martadinata, I. P. H., & Diputra, I. B. R. P. (2019). Analisis hubungan kecerdasan emosional dan love of money terhadap perilaku etis mahasiswa (Studi empiris pada mahasiswa S1 akuntansi Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha). Jurnal Ilmiah Akuntansi, 3(2), 154–170. https://doi.org/10.23887/jia.v3i2.16638
Dwitia, E., Masripah, M., & Widiastuti, N. P. E. (2020). Taxpayer perception related to love of money, Machiavellian, and equity sensitivity on tax evasion ethics. Jurnal Akuntansi dan Perpajakan Jayakarta, 2(1), 18–33. https://doi.org/10.53825/japjayakarta.v2i1.44
Ferdian, R. I., & Afriyenti, M. (2020). Pengaruh kecerdasan emosional dan ethical sensitivity terhadap persepsi etis mahasiswa sebagai calon akuntan (Studi empiris pada mahasiswa akuntansi Fakultas Ekonomi di Kota Padang). Jurnal Eksplorasi Akuntansi, 2(4), 3840–3857. https://doi.org/10.24036/jea.v2i4.322
Fhyel, V. G. (2018). Pengaruh Keadilan Pajak, Sistem Perpajakan, Diskriminasi, Kemungkinan Terdeteksinya Kecurangan, Pemeriksaan Pajak, dan Tarif Pajak terhadap Penggelapan Pajak. Skripsi Fakultas Ekonomi Universitas Islam Indonesia Yogyakarta, 131.
Goleman, D. (2001). Working with Emotional Intelligence. Batam Books.
Haq, R. A., & Puspita, A. F. (2019). Determinan persepsi wajib pajak badan mengenai etika penggelapan pajak (Studi pada wajib pajak badan yang terdaftar di Kantor Pelayanan Pajak Pratama Purwakarta). Eqien: Jurnal Ekonomi dan Bisnis, 6(2), 89–100. https://doi.org/10.34308/eqien.v6i2.82
Hermawan, S., & Nurlia, W. (2017). Dapatkah love of money sebagai variabel intervening pengaruh variabel kecerdasan terhadap persepsi etis mahasiswa akuntansi? Jurnal Ilmiah Akuntansi dan Bisnis, 12(2), 93–106. https://doi.org/10.24843/jiab.2017.v12.i02.p04
Hidayatullah, R. S., & Mahameru Rosy, R. (2025). E-wallets and financial literacy: Shaping Gen Z wasteful behavior in Indonesia. Majapahit Journal of Islamic Finance & Management, 5(1), 329–352. https://syariah.jurnalikhac.ac.id/index.php/majapahit/article/view/375
Hopkins, M. M., & Deepa, R. (2018). The impact of emotional intelligence on ethical judgment. Journal of Management Development, 37(2), 122–137. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jmd-02-2018-0045
Karlina, Y. (2020). Pengaruh Love of Money, Sistem Perpajakan, Keadilan Perpajakan, Diskriminasi Perpajakan, Pemahaman Perpajakan, Sanksi Perpajakan dan Religiusitas Terhadap Penggelapan Pajak (Berdasarkan Persepsi Wajib Pajak Orang Pribadi Yang Terdaftar Di Kantor Pelayanan. Prisma (Platform Riset Mahasiswa Akuntansi), 01(01), 58–69.
Kurniawan, A., Rizdkia, M., Umiyati, I., Mulyati, S., Sugiharto, B., & Agnyoto, P. (2025). The influence of love of money, personal values, and ethical orientation on the ethical behavior of accounting students. Quality – Access to Success, 26(206), 465–473. https://doi.org/10.47750/QAS/26.206.46
Lamia, M., Morasa, J., & Rondonuwu, S. (2018). Persepsi calon wajib pajak atas tindak penggelapan pajak. Going Concern: Jurnal Riset Akuntansi, 14(1), 381–388. https://doi.org/10.32400/gc.13.04.21165.2018
Lestari, T. (2021). Pengaruh Machiavellian, love of money dan status sosial terhadap persepsi etika penggelapan pajak dengan religiusitas sebagai variabel moderating. Pharmacognosy Magazine, 17(75), 399–405.
Lutfi Abdurahman, N., & Hidayatulloh, A. (2020). Kecerdasan, religiusitas, kecintaan terhadap uang, dan persepsi etis mahasiswa akuntansi Universitas Ahmad Dahlan Yogyakarta. Jurnal Aplikasi Akuntansi, 4(2), 211–225. https://doi.org/10.29303/jaa.v4i2.75
Manuari, I. A. R., & Devi, N. L. N. S. (2020). Pengaruh kecerdasan dan love of money terhadap persepsi etis mahasiswa akuntansi. E-Jurnal Akuntansi, 30(1), 259–273. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349035870_Pengaruh_Kecerdasan_dan_Love_of_Money_Terhadap_Persepsi_Etis_Mahasiswa_Akuntansi
Mardiasmo. (2016). Perpajakan: Edisi Terbaru. Andi.
Mujiyati, Rohmawati, F. R., & Ririn, W. H. (2017). PAJAK ( TAX EVASION ): Studi pada Dosen dan Mahasiswa Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta.
Murthy, N., & Gopalkrishnan, S. (2022). Creating a nexus between dark triad personalities, non-performing assets, corporate governance and frauds in the Indian banking sector. Journal of Financial Crime, 30(4), 859–876. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFC-05-2022-0097
Nauvalia, F. A., & Herwinarni, Y. (2018). Pengaruh religiusitas, pemahaman perpajakan, status sosial ekonomi dan love of money terhadap persepsi penggelapan pajak. Permana: Jurnal Perpajakan, Manajemen, dan Akuntansi, 10(1), 130–141. https://doi.org/10.24905/permana.v10i1.73
Ningsih, D. N. C., & Pusposari, D. (2016). Determinan persepsi mengenai etika atas penggelapan pajak (tax evasion) (Studi pada mahasiswa Jurusan Akuntansi Fakultas Ekonomi dan Bisnis Universitas Brawijaya). Jurnal Akuntansi Fakultas Ekonomi dan Bisnis Universitas Brawijaya, 3(1), 1–21.
Nurachmi, D. A., Amir Hidayatulloh, S.E., M. S., Ahmad Dahlan, & Ahmad. (2019). Pengaruh gender , religiusitas dan sikap love of money terhadap persepsi etika penggelapan pajak. Jurnal Ilmiah Akuntansi Dan Bisnis, 400(1), 45–54.
OECD. (2022). Revenue statistics in Asia and the Pacific. OECD Publishing.
Park, T. Y., Barry, B., & Park, S. (2022). Incentive effects on ethics. Academy of Management Annals, 16(1), 438–475. https://doi.org/10.5465/annals.2020.0027
Rahmasari, L. (2012). Pengaruh kecerdasan intelektual, kecerdasan emosi dan kecerdasan spiritual terhadap kinerja karyawan. Majalah Ilmiah Informatika, 3(1), 1–20.
Resmi, S. (2019). Perpajakan : Teori dan Kasus. Salemba Empat.
Risela, D. A. (2016). Pengaruh kecerdasan intelektual, kecerdasan emosional, dan kecerdasan spiritual terhadap persepsi etis mahasiswa akuntansi mengenai praktik akuntansi kreatif di perusahaan (Studi pada mahasiswa akuntansi Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta) [Skripsi tidak dipublikasikan]. Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta.
Slemrod, J. (2007). Cheating ourselves: The economics of tax evasion. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 21(1), 25–48. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.21.1.25
Tang, T.-L. P. (1992). The meaning of money revisited. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 13(2), 197–202. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.4030130209
Tasmalinda. (2022). Bendahara KUD di Jambi Jadi Tersangka Penggelapan Pajak, Kerugian Negara Capai Rp812,5 Juta. 17 Maret 2022. https://sumsel.suara.com/read/2022/03/17/183338/bendahara-kud-di-jambi-jadi-tersangka-penggelapan-pajak-kerugian-negara-capai-rp8125-juta
Wijayanti, D. M., Senjani, Y. P., & Farah, W. (2023). The role of Machiavellian personality, altruistic personality, religiosity, whistleblowing system, and accounting firm size in mitigating fraud intention. Journal of Financial Crime, 31(1), 119–134. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFC-02-2023-0034
Wunu, S., Banda, F. L., dan Thalib, S. B. W. (2022). Pengaruh Love Of Money dan Machiavellian Terhadap Persepsi Mahasiswa Akuntansi. Jurnal Riset Ilmu Akuntansi, 1(2), 71–79. https://doi.org/10.37478/jria.v1i2.1180.