Research

The initial adoption of Goods and Service Tax Network (GSTN) is one of the essential driving forces to influence the success of Goods and Service Tax (GST) in India. In addi-tion, the diffusion of any technology (in this case, GSTN) is also affected by many varia-bles, such as individual characteristics, organizational members, and social system. The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and technology acceptance model (TAM) are widely used by researchers to understand the impact of these variables on behavioural inten-tion. Thus, keeping in view the turbulence caused by GST, the present article tried to analyse the intention of business persons to use the GSTN by integrating TAM and TPB. The authors draw upon the literature to develop a structured questionnaire on the adop-tion of technology. Data has been collected from 204 small- and medium-sized business owners that have a GSTN number. Methodologically, structure equation modelling has been used to test the significance of the relationship among variables under study. Data analysis showed that many small business owners were facing technical issues at the time of filing GST. Results indicated that trust was one of the critical variables affecting the use of GSTN by business persons in India. However, perceived usefulness, subjec-tive norms, and perceived behavioural control were found to have a significant influ-ence on attitude towards GSTN that in turn affected the intention to use GSTN by the business person. The study presents steps for the government to improve the accepta-bility and understanding of the GSTN among small- and medium-sized business organ-izations for better compliance of the new tax regime. The study contributes to existing literature by testing the role of trust in facilitating the acceptance of an IT-based tax filing system (GSTN). In a developing country like India, where computer literacy is low, making such technology mandatory raises many challenges. The study provides insights in addressing challenges related to acceptance of GSTN by small- and medi-um-sized business organizations.