Digital Financial Literacy, Information Quality, and Tax Burden on MSME Financial Efficiency: Trust Mediation

Abstract

The digital transformation of taxation through the CoreTax Administration System (CTAS) has placed new demands on Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), whose financial efficiency remains constrained by limited digital readiness. This study examines the effect of digital financial literacy, information quality, and tax burden perception in the CoreTax era on MSME financial efficiency, positioning CoreTax trust as a mediating variable. A quantitative explanatory design was employed, with data collected from 100 MSME operators in Berau Regency, East Kalimantan, selected through purposive sampling and measured using a four-point Likert scale. Data were analysed using Structural Equation Modeling–Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS) with SmartPLS 4.0. The results show that digital financial literacy, information quality, and tax burden perception each exert a positive and significant effect on both CoreTax trust and MSME financial efficiency, with digital financial literacy producing the strongest direct effect on efficiency and information quality emerging as the dominant predictor of trust. CoreTax trust significantly enhances financial efficiency and partially mediates all three exogenous paths, with the information-quality pathway exhibiting the strongest indirect effect. The model explains 82.3% of the variance in financial efficiency and 79.2% in trust. These findings imply that strengthening digital financial literacy, improving the quality of tax information, and simplifying administrative procedures are key strategies for enhancing MSME financial efficiency in the era of tax digitalization.

Keywords: Digital Financial Literacy; Information Quality; Tax Burden Perception; CoreTax Trust; MSME Financial Efficiency