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This study examines how Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), as tax practitioners, interpret and apply the ethical tax standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), using a hypothetical situation. Although the authors attempt to determine if CPAs are more likely to apply the substantial authority standard given certain factors affecting both the CPAs and their tax clients, one-dimensional standard threshold applications leave us to interpret only whether these factors affect the CPAs’ decision to sign a tax return upholding an ambiguous position. The authors find that an aggressive CPA (self-reported) is more inclined to sign the return than an unaggressive CPA. The authors also find that favorable prior dealings with the IRS, and awareness that the IRS is not pursuing a contrary position to a certain tax position, both contribute significantly to the CPA’s willingness to sign the return. While an aggressive tax client also fosters willingness to sign, it appears that tax clients with a refund pending (as opposed to a payment pending) are more apt to trigger a signed return. Study results indicate that ambiguities in the tax code, in concert with mitigating CPA/client factors, may lead to significant discrepancies in interpretation and application.

The aim of this study was to examine the moderating roles of the legitimate power and distributive justice of the tax authority on the effect of procedural justice on the voluntary tax compliance of taxpayers in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, by using survey data collected from taxpayers in the city.

Data for the study were collected from 800 sample taxpayers who were drawn by using a systematic sampling technique. The variables of the study were constructed as indices from composing the scale items developed and tested for their validity by prior researchers. Having collected the data by using a 7-point Likert scale questionnaire and forming the latent variables, hierarchical multiple regressions were applied to determine the moderating effects of the two variables (i.e. legitimate power and distributive justice) on the effect of procedural justice on voluntary tax compliance.

The author found that both the legitimate power of the tax authority and distributive justice of the authority moderate the effect of procedural justice on voluntary tax compliance. The moderating roles of the two variables appear to be opposite in that low (but not high) distributive justice and high (but not low) legitimate power of the tax authority stimulate the effect of procedural justice on voluntary tax compliance.

The first limitation is that the data used in this study are self-reported data while the subject of the study is sensitive subject about which respondents are not believed to provide genuine responses. This is presumably because taxpayers are less likely to confess their tax evasion as they fear legal actions following their self-report. Hence, other controlled methods such as the experimental design are recommended to replicate the results of this study. The second limitation is that data for the study were gathered through a one-time cross-sectional survey and hence it would not warrant a causal claim between the study variables. Consequently, other research with a longitudinal or experimental design might warrant a causal relationship between the variables.

Therefore, the tax authorities must endeavor to attain high legitimacy by doing “the right things” as perceived by the taxpayers so that their tax-related decisions gain acceptance from the decision recipients. Tax policy makers as well ought to consider the importance of and the relationship between procedural justice, distributive justice and legitimate power of the tax authority in order to attain the maximum possible voluntary compliance of taxpayers that significantly reduces the administrative cost of taxes.

The study benefits society by enhancing tax compliance and hence helping the government secure a better amount of tax revenue and provide better public goods and services.

The findings of this study are of high theoretical and policy significance. Theoretically, the findings contribute to the integrative literature on economic deterrence and social-psychological factors that are responsible for voluntary tax compliance decisions. The parallel moderating roles of the two variables on the relationship between procedural justice and voluntary cooperation in a single model and in the tax compliance context are novel. In terms of applicability to policy formulations, they shed light on the need for a shift from a pure focus on aggressive tax audits and penalties, especially in emerging economies to a combination of the tax audits and the nurturing of the voluntary deference of taxpayers to the tax authority's decisions. Caution must, however, be taken that the results of this study may not be applicable to tax environments in other countries.

The purpose of this study is to better understand the nexus between environmental taxes and other environmental management systems (EMSs) and to propose an alternative framework for implementing environmental protection tax (EPT) in China.

The study uses a multimethod approach encompassing document analysis and comparative analysis. The archival data covers laws, reports, regulations, guidelines and standards related to the EPT and EMS sub-systems in China.

The study identifies several institutional features of environmental taxes that have not been fully explored in past tax research. In addition, the study reveals that information-sharing mechanisms are key to addressing the risks and uncertainties associated with the implementation of an environmental tax and that the mechanisms are grounded in the nexus among EPT and two EMS sub-systems.

The findings of this study have implications for the understanding of China’s environmental tax system, the Environmental Impact Assessment system and the pollutants discharge permit (PDP) system. The construction of an alternative framework provides insights for approaches to environmental taxation. A limitation of this study is that the application of the framework might be undermined by the inaccurate manual sampling, as some pollutants may be non-replicable.

The findings of this study are relevant to policymakers who are designing, improving or abandoning environmental taxes for alternate solutions to environmental issues.

The insights gained from this study may be of assistance to lower the risks and uncertainties associated with the implementation of an environmental tax.

The study contributes to approaches to environmental taxes by constructing an alternative framework that connects an environmental tax system with two EMSs. The framework lays the groundwork for some promising research opportunities. Additionally, the study extends the tax accounting literature (Hanlon and Heitzman, 2010) by connecting accounting and environmental knowledge and developing a transdisciplinary approach. The study also contributes to the emerging body of literature that addresses the challenges in implementing environmental taxes in China.

This study examines the determinants of enforced tax compliance behavior of Malaysian citizens where trust in tax authorities is assumed to be a mediator. Quota sampling method was used to select a sample of 340 participants to participate in a survey. A two-step structural equation modeling (SEM) process was adopted to test a framework comprising 13 hypotheses. Model fit was initially measured using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) while model specification was applied in the second stage to test the structural relationship. The mediating effects of trust in tax authorities were tested via Baron and Kenny (1986) approach, bootstrapping, and AMOS AxB estimand. The findings confirmed that trust in government, trust in tax administrator, power of Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia, and awareness influence enforced compliance. However, tax morale and tax amoral behaviors do not influence enforced compliance. The findings suggest that citizens would fulfill their tax responsibilities if they believe that tax authorities are effective in tax administration. Trust in government fosters trust in the tax authorities. This study contributes to existing literature by confirming the factors that affect enforced tax compliance.

In all its many manifestations, economic crime remains a threat to civilisation.

This paper aims to examine the relationship between registration of business and tax payment among micro-business owners in Nkoranza South Municipal and Nkoranza North District in Ghana.

Interview schedule was used to collect information from 720 micro business owners who qualify for tax stamps. The study used correspondence analysis as the analytical tool.

The study found a significant association between registration of business and tax payment. The biplot also indicated that unregistered businesses and businesses registered with District Assembly only are more likely to evade tax than those registered with Ghana Revenue Authority.

In Ghana, for instance, owner of business is required by law to provide information on his/her business, himself/herself and partners (as the case may be) to the Registrar-General Department, and thereafter, the business should also be registered at the nearest Ghana Revenue Authority District Office. This regulation was enacted in 2005, and it is expected that this registration will help tax authority in tax collection, as they will have adequate knowledge about businesses in the area including the location of the businesses. However, after 10 years in existence of this regulation, the effect of this registration requirement on tax payment in Ghana is not known. It is this gap that the present study seeks to fill by looking at the relationship between registration of business and tax evasion in the Ghanaian informal sector.

The purpose of this paper is to use the instrumental game theory to understand the behavior of the front agents tax evasion and tax authority in Brazil.

In order to analyze the taxpayer’s behavior before the Brazilian tax system and tax actions aimed at reducing tax evasion, the authors developed a theoretical model based on the payoffs of Graetz et al. (1986) and increased with situations proposed by Siqueira (2004), Lipatov (2006) and Oliveira (2011).

Considering the cases with and without specialists, the main results show that in high dropout situation, penalize taxpayers with high fines or deprivations of liberty may not be as effective. Another result of the analysis is that the audit and inspection costs played an important role in driving the equilibrium system.

One limitation of this study is to consider how the exogenous tax authorities earnings (Federal Revenue of Brazil and Federal Police) and not as a function of the goals and certain enforcement policies for each public body.

The authors suggest the following policy: investing in tax inspectors and unbureaucratic the authorities of the cost structure become a more effective tool to combat non-compliance with tax obligations that the intensity of the penalties imposed by the act of evading.

This paper contributes to the literature insofar as it models for the first time, using game theory, the behavior of the evading agent and the tax authority in Brazil.

This paper examined tax compliance and its impact on agrochemical traders in Ghana.

Based on the registered agrochemical lists obtained from the Plant Protection and Regulatory Service Department, 92 agrochemical traders were sampled for data collection. Probit regression was used to estimate determinants of tax compliance, whereas the Inverse Probability Weighted Regression Adjustment Model was employed to evaluate the impact of tax compliance on business performance.

The results revealed that age and gender relate positively to enforced tax compliance, while education positively impacts voluntary tax compliance. Nonetheless, tax rate, trust and monthly sales positively affect voluntary tax compliance but negatively impact enforced tax compliance. Inversely, while authorities’ power negatively impacted voluntary compliance, it positively influenced enforced tax compliance confirming the Slippery Slope Framework.

To the best knowledge of the authors, this paper is the first to investigate tax compliance determinants and impact among agrochemical traders, despite the tremendous growth of the agrochemical sub-sector in Africa and Ghana. Therefore, this study makes a modest contribution to empirical studies that validate the Slippery Slope Framework in promoting tax compliance in the agricultural and agribusiness sectors of a developing country. Similarly, it also unearths the impact of tax compliance on agribusiness growth which has yet to be highlighted in the extant literature.

This study aims to examine why tax reforms fail and explores how tax collection can be improved within a developing country context.

Data comprise 28 semi-structured interviews with taxpayers, tax experts and tax authority personnel based in Pakistan. The results are analysed using a combined lens of taxpayer trust and tax agencies’ capabilities.

Tax reforms failed to build taxpayers’ trust and tax agencies’ capabilities. Building trust is challenging and demands extensive ongoing engagement with taxpayers while yielding gradual permanent results. This requires enhancing confidence in government; educating taxpayers; removing complexities; introducing transparency and accountability in tax agencies’ operations and the tax system; promoting procedural and distributive justice; and reversing perceptions of corruption through reconciliation and stakeholder inclusivity. Developing tax agencies’ capabilities requires upgrading outdated technologies, systems and processes; implementing governance and organisational reforms; introducing an oversight board; and recruiting and training skilled professionals.

The findings can assist policymakers and tax collection authorities in understanding why tax reforms fail and identifying potential solutions.

This study contributes to the emerging literature by exploring tax administration failures in developing countries. It contributes to the literature by engaging stakeholders to understand why reforms fail and potential solutions to stimulate tax revenues.

This paper aims to investigate the role of cognitive moral development (CMD) in tax compliance decision. In particular, the study compares tax compliance degree in two different tax systems: synergistic and antagonistic tax climates.

Build on the CMD theory, this study uses a paper and pencil laboratory experiment that involved 157 participants to test the hypotheses.

CMD has significant contribution to the tax compliance decision, especially for taxpayers at both the pre-conventional and conventional level. Taxpayers who have achieved post-conventional level, however, do not shift their compliance degree even when the tax climate changed. The present results support the CMD theory.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the present study is the first to investigate the role of CMDin tax compliance decision by comparing two different tax systems: synergistic and antagonistic tax climates. This study has theoretical and practical contributions. From theoretical perspective, the findings provide evidence that CMD influence tax compliance decision-making processes. In the practical terms, this research may provide a deep insight on the important of government and tax authorities to improve the taxpayers’ moral cognitive, e.g. through any activities which aims to boost them to the level of post-conventional.