How seriously do taxpayers regard tax evasion? A survey of opinion in England
| Pages | 563-575 |
| Published date | 02 July 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JMLC-09-2018-0056 |
| Date | 02 July 2019 |
| Author | Simon James,Robert W. McGee,Serkan Benk,Tamer Budak |
| Subject Matter | Financial risk/company failure,Financial compliance/regulation,Financial crime |
How seriously do taxpayers
regard tax evasion? A survey
of opinion in England
Simon James
University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, UK
Robert W. McGee
Broadwell School of Business and Economics, Fayetteville State University,
Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA
Serkan Benk
Department of Public Finance, _
Inönü Üniversity, Malatya, Turkey, and
Tamer Budak
Faculty of Law, Inonu Universitesi, Malatya, Turkey
Abstract
Purpose –Numerous studies have been done on various aspects of tax evasion in recent years. Some
studies focus on compliance,while others examine more esoteric topics, such as optimumtax evasion. A third
group of studies discusses theoreticalissues, such as when tax evasion can be justified on moral grounds. A
few studies haveaddressed the relative seriousness of tax evasioncompared to other infractions. The purpose
of this paperis in the latter category.
Design/methodology/approach –Wave 6 of the World Values Surveys (2010-2014)asked hundreds of
questions to participants in 57 countries. One of those questions asked whether it was justifiable to evade
taxes if one had the opportunity to do so. Another question asked whether it was justifiable to pay cash to
avoid paying taxes. It also asked questions about other ethical issues such as bribery, avoiding a fare on
public transport, claiming government benefitsand buying stolen goods. The present study included those
questions in a surveythat was distributed to 485 students and faculty members at the Universityof Exeter in
England to determine the relativeseriousness of each act. They were asked to select a number from 1 (never
justifiable) to 10 (always justifiable) to show the extent of their agreement or disagreement with the
commission of the six acts.The goal was to determine how serious tax evasion was compared toother acts
that might be considered unethical. One-samplet-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) methods
were used for the data analysis.
Findings –The results of thestudy show that the act considered least seriouswas paying cash for services
to avoid tax followed in order of seriousnessby avoiding a fare on public transport, cheating on taxes if you
have a chance, buying stolen goods, claiming benefits without entitlement and, with least justification,
accepting a bribe in the course of one’s duty.Some interesting results emerged by examiningthe responses of
different groups.Like other studies, the results indicate older groupstend to have a higher respect for the law
than younger ones. This was true for the cheating on taxes possibility, but the 30-49 years age group were
more opposed than the other two groups to paying cash for services to avoid taxes. In terms of gender,
females were significantly more opposed than males to cheating on taxes if you have a chance. The
respondents who are married were more opposedto the six acts, including of course, the two tax ones, than
non-married persons. There was also evidence that the level of higher education makes a difference to
individuals’opinions.
Originality/value –This is an important study in relation to England. It is the first study to do so. The
relative seriousness of tax evasion is compared to other offenses. Meanscores are used to rank the various
offenses in terms of relative seriousness. Various demographics are also examined to see whether some
Tax evasion
563
Journalof Money Laundering
Control
Vol.22 No. 3, 2019
pp. 563-575
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1368-5201
DOI 10.1108/JMLC-09-2018-0056
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1368-5201.htm
To continue reading
Request your trial