A Comparative Study on Perceived Ethics of Tax Evasion: Hong Kong Vs the United States

This article begins with a review of the literature on the ethics of tax evasion and identifies the three main views that have emerged over the centuries, namely always ethical, sometimes ethical, and never or almost never ethical. It then reports on the results of a survey of HK and U.S. university business students who were asked to express their opinions on the 15 statements covering the three main views. The data are then analyzed to determine which of the three viewpoints is dominant among the sample population. Although it was found that HK scores were significantly different from the U.S. scores, both HK and U.S. respondents were opposed to the view that tax evasion is always or almost always ethical. The strongest arguments justifying tax evasion were in cases where the government was corrupt, the tax system was unfair and unaffordable. The weakest arguments for justifying tax evasion were in cases where there was a selfish motive. The underlying cultural differences are further explored in hope of accounting for differing perceptions of ethics of tax evasion. Policy implications for increasing people’s awareness of ethics on tax evasion are also highlighted.     

When idealists evade taxes: the influence of personal moral philosophy on attitudes to tax evasion – a Lebanese study

This paper explores attitudes regarding tax evasion and the relationship between personal moral philosophy and such attitudes in a weak tax environment. The results confirm the multidimensionality of tax evasion attitudes. Idealism was negatively related to self‐interest tax evasion attitudes while relativism was positively related to such attitudes. Idealism was also positively related to tax evasion attitudes stemming from concerns about the justice of the tax system. Idealists in a weak tax environment seemingly go through a cognitive reframing process where they recognize that the tax system is unfair, and accordingly tax evasion is a way to serve a different moral absolute, that is of equity, rather than another different moral absolute, which is fulfilling obligations to governments. The results are also explained in light of the suggested low moral intensity of tax evasion among respondents. Policy implications are presented.     

Steuerflucht und Steueroasen

The current debate on tax planning has to distinguish between tax evasion and aggressive tax planning. While tax evasion is illegal and requires the enhanced exchange of information, measures against aggressive tax planning seem to be very complex and complicated. Tax havens’ benefits from tax haven activities are inversely related to the intensity of competition among tax havens. Once the set of tax havens narrows, each havens’ share of the business increases and its margins go up. This competition aspect makes initial successes easy but final success very difficult. Nevertheless, some authors argue that action against tax flight is inevitable. As tax flight is a multilateral phenomenon, coordinated initiatives by country groups appear particularly promising. Here the EU should be in the vanguard. Only automatic information exchange generates the transparency and leeway needed to eliminate income tax evasion and to permit countries to devise tax codes at their own discretion. Despite the European trend towards lower corporate taxes, an empirical analysis shows that German multinationals have increased their tax haven activities. Recent research suggests that this development might be explained by the increased usage of anti-tax avoidance measures by high-tax countries. The substitutive nature of different tax-avoidance schemes indicates that only a coordinated closing of loopholes for profit shifting would reduce the demand for tax-haven operations significantly.     

Challenging Masculinity in CSR Disclosures: Silencing of Women’s Voices in Tanzania’s Mining Industry

Guilt is a powerful emotion that is known to influence ethical decision-making. Nevertheless, the role of guilt cognitions in influencing restorative behaviour following an unethical action is not well understood. Guilt cognitions are interrelated beliefs about an individual’s role in a negative event. We experimentally investigate the joint impact of three guilt cognitions—responsibility for a decision, justification for a decision, and foreseeability of consequences—on a taxpayer’s decision to make a tax amnesty disclosure. Tax amnesties encourage delinquent taxpayers to self-correct to avoid severe penalties that would result if their tax evasion were discovered. Our findings suggest a three-way interaction effect such that taxpayers are likely to make tax amnesty disclosures when they foresee that they will be caught by the tax authority, unless they can diffuse responsibility for their evasion and justify their evasion. Implications for tax policy and tax professionals are discussed.     

Gender, Exposure to Tax Knowledge, and Attitudes Towards Taxation; An Experimental Approach

This study reports findings of gender differences in tax attitude changes influenced by better tax knowledge. Male students are more exposed to tax knowledge in a way that makes them reconsider more easily their attitudes towards their own tax evasion, i.e. tax ethics, than their female peers. Male students get a significantly stricter attitude towards their own tax evasion. On the other hand, female students are more exposed to tax knowledge in a way that makes them reconsider their attitude towards other people's tax evasion than their male peers, i.e. they get a significantly stricter attitude towards others tax evasion. Improved tax knowledge significantly changed both male and female students attitude towards the fairness of the tax system, i.e. they considered the tax system to be more fair. Implications for ethical behaviour of taxpayers are highlighted.     

税收遵从成本对企业税收遵从的影响分析——基于企业逃税模型

传统的在A-S逃税模型中加入税收遵从成本因素分析其对纳税遵从的影响只适用于个人纳税人。运用企业逃税模型分析税收遵从成本对企业纳税遵从的影响不仅更符合企业实际,而且在我国更有现实意义。本文以Virmani关于竞争性市场中两权合一的企业间接税的逃税模型为基础,加入税收遵从成本因素分析了税收遵从成本对企业税收遵从的影响,得出税收遵从成本对企业纳税遵从具有反向影响这一结论,并从税收征管、税制、税收环境三个方面探讨了企业税收遵从成本降低之策。     

Walking Inside the Potential Tax Evader’s Mind: Tax Morale Does Matter

We conduct an empirical study on the determinants of the psychological costs of tax evasion, also known as tax morale. As a preliminary step, we build a model of tax evasion including non-monetary considerations, show the relationship between tax compliance and tax morale. In the empirical analysis of tax morale we find, using a binomial logit model, that the justification of tax evasion can be explained by the presence of grievance in absolute terms (those who feel that taxes are too high, those who feel that public funds are wasted, and those who accept underground economic activities); and grievances in relative terms (the suspected level of others’ tax evasion). The sense of duty and the level of solidarity are also relevant factors, but to a lesser extent.     

Tax progressivity and self-employment: evidence from Canadian provinces

We examine the effects of personal income tax progressivity—in the sense of rising marginal income tax rate—on self-employment. The impacts of income tax progressivity on self-employment depend on the relative effects of taxing success and the presence of tax evasion opportunities. Empirical estimates using Canadian provincial data for the period 1979–2006 indicate that there is a negative association between income tax progressivity and self-employment. This suggests that the adverse impact of income tax on entrepreneurial risk-taking outweighs the tax evasion opportunities for the self-employed. An important implication of our results is that a reduction in income tax progressivity encourages self-employment. The empirical estimates are robust to the various sensitivity checks.     

Fiscal consolidation with tax evasion and corruption

Cross-country evidence highlights the importance of tax evasion and corruption in determining the size of fiscal multipliers. We introduce these two features in a New Keynesian model and revisit the effects of fiscal consolidations. VAR evidence for Italy suggests that spending cuts reduce tax evasion, while tax hikes increase it. In the model, spending cuts induce a reallocation of production towards the formal sector, thus reducing tax evasion. Tax hikes increase the incentives to produce in the less productive shadow sector, implying higher output and unemployment losses. Corruption further amplifies these losses by requiring larger hikes in taxes to reduce debt. We use the model to assess the recent fiscal consolidation plans in Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain. Our results corroborate the evidence of increasing levels of tax evasion during these consolidations and point to significant output and welfare losses, which could be reduced substantially by combating tax evasion and corruption.     

TAX EVASION AND STATE PRODUCTIVITY—AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

In an overlapping generations experiment with multiple families participants can support their parents directly and thereby reduce their tax burden or rely on tax‐financed old‐age support. State productivity is captured by the factor with which total tax revenues are multiplied to determine old‐age support. This factor is systematically varied from 0.75 to 1.25. Tax payments depend on declared endowment. Tax evasion is possible, but monitored. Our results suggest that state productivity influences neither direct support of own parents nor tax evasion. The main effect is that rich endowment triggers relatively low support of own parents and high (and more frequent) tax evasion.     

Tax evasion and financial repression

Using a simple overlapping generations framework, calibrated to four Southern European countries, we analyze the relationship between tax evasion, determined endogenously, and financial repression. We show that higher degree of tax evasion within a country, resulting from a higher level of corruption and a lower penalty rate, yields higher degrees of financial repression as a social optimum. However, a higher degree of tax evasion, due to a lower tax rate, reduces the severity of the financial restriction.     

Tax Morale and International Tax Evasion

Low tax morale is associated with domestic tax evasion. We find evidence of cross-border equity flows designed to evade taxes in low tax morale countries. Using Foreign Portfolio Equity Investment (FPI) flows into 21 OECD countries from 138 source countries and an index of tax morale from the World Value Survey (WVS), we show that individuals in countries with low tax morale engage in tax evasion via roundtripping through tax havens. This allows them to benefit from differential taxes applied to foreign investors vis-a-vis domestic investors. Our results remain robust to various measures of tax morale and distinct subsamples.     

转移定价条件下各省区间税收合作的损益分析

由国内各省区间税收竞争导致的非合作均衡,会造成贸易和税收收入水平下降,引起双重征税或漏征税.而省区间税收合作则会增加区域税收总收入,减少双重征税或恶意避税,提高区域内贸易总量.同时,在实施"单边转移支付"的条件下,区域间税收合作也能够增加各自省份的税收总量.上述结论同样适应于国际税收合作的讨论和分析.     

隐性经济约束下的动态最优税负——基于状态空间模型的实证

隐性经济活动因其逃避税收监管而对宏观税负产生影响。隐性经济作为国民经济核算与监察的遗漏项,客观上起到了减税的作用。在隐性经济影响下,现实经济动态的非均衡性决定了最优税负也是时变的,并不存在一个固定不变的税负水平使经济增长最大化;最优税负是判断现实宏观税负高低的标准,当前税收并非我国经济增长的消减因素,说明宏观税负整体上是合适的。隐性经济领域是潜在的税源,结构性减税在考虑不同产业、不同部门之间税收平衡的同时,更应关注已观测经济与隐性经济税收负担的公平性。     

物流行业税收政策存在的问题及建议探讨

本文针对物流税收政策及偷税漏税现象进行分析,实现物流税收政策的调整,为我国物流行业的发展进一步加快步伐.     

经济全球化与我国的税收安全体系建设

经济全球化条件下有许多因素冲击到国家税收的安全 ,如税收国际竞争的挑战、跨国公司避税的影响、电子商务引发的税收流失、走私和骗取出口退税的侵蚀 ,等等。本文系统分析了上述这些方面 ,并且将全球化下国家税收安全体系的建设视为一项综合性的整体工程来构建 ,而不是作为一些分散的项目来实施。     

新企业所得税法实施后的税收征管改进

新《企业所得税法》与现行内外资企业所得税相比,其主要内容和特点表现在纳税人身份的判定和纳税义务的确定,统一税率,规范计税依据的确认,以产业优惠为主、地区优惠为辅的政策导向,整合税收优惠政策以及加强征收管理等方面。新《企业所得税法》的实施对税收征管中的税源管理、税基管理、征管能力、反避税等方面提出了新的要求。企业所得税的征管水平直接关系着税收收入的组织,关系着所得税的调控力度。针对新《企业所得税法》实施后征管的新要求,文章提出,应优化税源管理机制,强化税源监控;深入有效宣传新税法,进一步加强日常征管,全面清理优惠政策,确保所得税政策的全面、准确贯彻执行;优化机构设置,职责合理分工,明晰企业所得税的征管归属;积极推行反避税工作,防止税收流失。     

Three Views on the Ethics of Tax Evasion

In 1944, Martin Crowe, a Catholic priest, wrote a doctoral dissertation titled The Moral Obligation of Paying Just Taxes. His dissertation summarized and analyzed 500 years of theological and philosophical debate on this topic, much of which took place in Latin. Since Crowe’s dissertation, not much has been written on the topic of tax evasion from an ethical perspective, with a few exceptions. In 1998 and 1999, a few articles were published on the ethics of tax evasion in the Journal of Accounting, Ethics & Public Policy. An edited book on this topic was published in 1998. The present paper summarizes, updates and expands on Crowe’s work and the other more recent work that has been published on this topic. Three basic views on the ethics of tax evasion have emerged over the centuries. This article presents and critiques those three views and raises some questions about points that have not yet been explored in the literature.     

我国外资企业逃避税的现状分析

目前我国反避税能力有限,不仅经验不足、技术手段落后,而且专业人才缺乏,造成外资企业逃税现象严重,外资企业利用转移定价、避税地、滥用国际税收协定、资本弱化等方式避税,给我国造成大量税款损失,税务部门应采取增加转让定价、调整的可操作性,对避税行为轻税重罚,推行预约定价制度等措施,防范外企避税来转移受益。     

An Analysis of Double Taxation Treaties and their Effect on Foreign Direct Investment

Double taxation treaties (DTTs) are intended to eliminate double taxation and thereby increase foreign direct investment (FDI). DTTs are also meant to prevent tax evasion which previous literature argues has a negative effect on FDI. Using matching econometrics and a large data set of developed to less developed country-pairs, I show that despite their intentions and the significant costs of entering into DTTs, the treaties have no effect on the flows of FDI. An analysis of the treaties in conjunction with the related domestic tax legislation shows why this is the case. Developed countries unilaterally provide for the relief of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion regardless of the treaty status of a host country. This eliminates the key economic benefit and the risk that these treaties would otherwise create for the FDI location decisions of multinational enterprises.