From e-compliance to smart taxation: Institutional pressures, digital trust, and SME adoption of AI-based tax tools in Morocco

De l'e-conformité à la fiscalité intelligente: Pressions institutionnelles, confiance numérique et adoption des outils fiscaux fondés sur l'IA par les PME au Maroc

Mohamed Amine Errochdi, Zainab Saf () and Abdellatif Maniali
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Mohamed Amine Errochdi: Laboratoire de Recherche en Économie et Management des Organisations Ecole National de Commerce et de Gestion Béni Mellal,Université Sultane Moulay Slimane Béni Mellal
Zainab Saf: Laboratoire de Recherche en Économie et Management des Organisations Ecole National de Commerce et de Gestion Béni MellalUniversitéSultane Moulay Slimane Béni Mellal
Abdellatif Maniali: Laboratoire de Recherche en Économie et Management des Organisations Ecole National de Commerce et de Gestion Béni MellalUniversitéSultane Moulay Slimane Béni Mellal

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Abstract: This article explores the dynamics of advanced tax digitalization adoption, including artificial intelligence–enabled systems, by Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the context of an emerging economy. It examines how institutional pressures, organizational capabilities, and digital trust shape and moderate the process through which these firms appropriate such technologies.Methodologically, the research follows an interpretivist qualitative approach based on 24 semi-structured interviews conducted in Morocco, including 18 SME owners/managers and 6 tax and digitalization experts. The dataset is analysed using the Gioia data structure, which enables the systematic emergence of first-order concepts, second-order themes, and aggregate dimensions, thereby providing a nuanced understanding of the underlying adoption logics.The findings show that the adoption of AI-driven tax solutions by SMEs unfolds as a coercive and reactive process, primarily driven by regulatory mandates rather than strategic innovation intent. The perception of AI in taxation is strongly marked by fear of algorithmic opacity, frequently described as a "black box," which undermines perceived transparency and fairness. This perception is exacerbated by a structural deficit of internal resources and skills (liabilityof smallness) and by a pervasive distrust of the tax administration's motives, particularly in terms of control and sanctioning power. As a result, SMEs tend to deploy façade compliance strategies, such as symbolic decoupling and extensive outsourcing of fiscal tasks, which limit genuine learning and prevent any deeper strategic transformation.As an original contribution, the article proposes a theoretical extension of the Technology–Organization–Environment (TOE) framework tailored to coercive institutional settings by introducing Digital Institutional Trust as a mediating variable between environmental pressures and actual appropriation of digital tax tools. It also highlights the urgent need to establish forms of "digital procedural justice" capable of enhancing transparency, explainability, and perceived fairness in AI-driven tax systems, thereby fostering more substantive and sustainable adoption among SMEs in emerging economies.

Keywords: institutional theory; Morocco. Classification JEL: H20; e-government; digital institutional trust; SMEs; artificial intelligence; e-gouvernement. JEL Classification : H20 Type du papier : Recherche Théorique et empirique tax digitalization; théorie institutionnelle; confiance numérique institutionnelle; PME; intelligence artificielle; Digitalisation fiscale; Digitalisation fiscale intelligence artificielle PME confiance numérique institutionnelle théorie institutionnelle e-gouvernement. JEL Classification : H20 Type du papier : Recherche Théorique et empirique tax digitalization artificial intelligence SMEs digital institutional trust institutional theory e-government Morocco. Classification JEL: H20 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Published in International Journal of Accounting, Finance, Auditing, Management and Economics, 2026, 07 (03), pp.629-640. ⟨10.5281/zenodo.19002953⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05624548

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19002953

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