International PhD right here in Malaysia

16 July 2008

“Being able to complete my PhD locally at an internationally recognized university is one of the main reasons why I chose Monash University,” said Noor Sharoja Sapiei when asked why she decided to continue her doctoral program at the Sunway campus.

 Ms Sharoja is currently pursuing her PhD at the School of Business, Monash University Sunway campus with research focusing on taxation compliance costs of public listed companies.

 The objectives of her research are to determine the level of taxpayers’ compliance costs by using a measurement approach that provides detailed taxpayer compliance costs, in terms of finance, time spent and psychological costs; to analyze the relationship between level of tax complexity and taxpayer’s compliance costs burden; to identify the potential determinants of tax compliance costs of business taxpayers in terms of size, legal form and industry sector as well as identify whether high compliance costs encourage non-compliance and hence lower revenue collection.

 “Extensive compliance studies are undertaken in developed countries and are slowly becoming prominent in developing nations. It is crucial that an extensive research into taxpayers’ costs be carried out in Malaysia as very little or no study at all has been conducted since the self assessment system was implemented by the Inland Revenue Board in 2001,” Ms Sharoja explained.

 “The study is motivated by the fact that very little is known about the nature or magnitude of the compliance costs borne by taxpayers in Malaysia,” she added.

 Another major reason for Sharoja to decide on Monash for her PhD was her supervisor, Professor Jeyapalan Kasipillai who is an internationally renowned taxation expert.

 “Having Professor Jeyapalan as my supervisor is indeed a boost to my research as he has a broad perspective and in depth knowledge on taxation. We meet regularly to ensure that I stay on track with my research.”

 When asked about her experience in Monash, Ms Sharoja highlighted that the university’s extensive online resources has proven to be very helpful with her research. 

“The vast numbers of online journals and e-books makes it easy for me especially when I need to refer to similar researches that have been conducted in the past. Furthermore, it is also easy for me to get documents that are not in the database with the help of the librarians,” said Ms Sharoja. 

Apart from that, it is also a great advantage for her that Monash is a research intensive university. “Everyone here stresses on the importance of research and the university is ever ready to provide support to researchers and PhD students alike.” 

Ms Sharoja has been a lecturer at University Malaya since 2003 and specializes in taxation. She completed her Bachelor of Accountancy and Finance degree at the University College of Wales, United Kingdom and obtained the Associated of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) qualifications in 1997. In 2003, she obtained her MBA (Accounting) from University Malaya. She will complete her doctoral program from Monash University Sunway campus in 2010. – Anita Hadi