The Relation of Happiness and Willingness to Pay Taxes:Are Happier People more Willing to Pay Taxes?

The main source of government revenue in Iran is revenue from crude oil and its products export. In the Sixth Development Plan bill, the government's emphasis on reducing the dependency of the state budget on oil and increasing the tax share to increase the tax revenue sources. The new government's approach to increasing tax revenues is a change in the taxpayers’ willingness to pay taxes in the community, which is influenced by several factors. In 1394, Khouzestan province has been able to pay revenue to the state by acquiring a second-place state (after Tehran) in paying taxes. This dramatic increase in tax revenues can depend on a variety of factors, and perhaps the happiness of taxpayers is one of those factors. Happiness is a factor of influence that has received less attention in previous research, and at the same time it is one of the intrinsic stimuli of individuals that can, along with other factors, affect the tendency to tax them. In this study, using four types of linear regression and ordinary least squares method, the effect of happiness on taxpayers' interest in Ahvaz private sector (Khuzestan province) is estimated in 1396. The results showed that the effect of happiness on the desire to pay taxes is statistically significant, but economically, its impact is small but positive.