Smart means honest. Evaluation of legal and illegal tax behaviors of employees and entrepreneurs
Sabina Kołodziej
Akademia Leona Koźmińskiego, Katedra Psychologii Ekonomicznejhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7467-1048
Abstract
Objective: The tendency to minimize taxes paid is interpreted as self-interest concern, which is one of the basic motives for action and social perception. However, tax evasion is associated with moral judgement distortion in order to maintain a positive self-image. The aim of the study was to analyze social evaluations of tax avoidance and evasion. Due to the differences in the scope of legal and illegal methods of reducing the amount of taxes paid available to employees and entrepreneurs, the study took into account the perspective of the person making the given evaluation.
Method: The study was conducted in the CAWI methodology, on a sample of Polish taxpayers (N=223). A questionnaire describing four tax situations differing in the legality of a given action and the characteristics of taxpayer with semantic differential scale: smart - not smart was used.
Results: Legal tax reductions were evaluated as more smart than illegal. The evaluation of tax evasion was related to the characteristics of the described taxpayer, while tax avoidance depended also on the respondent's form of employment. A more positive evaluation of the tax decision made by respondent's professional group representative concerned only the tax avoidance made by entrepreneurs.
Conclusion: Legal and illegal methods of lowering taxes are distinguished socially, and a more positive evaluation of these activities depends on their legality. The results of the study do not allow to formulate a statement about the occurrence of egocentric distortion of evaluations in relation to the analyzed tax behaviors of employees and entrepreneurs.
Keywords:
tax avoidance, tax evasion, self-interest, egocentric distortion of judgementReferences
Alm, J. (1991). A perspective on the experimental analysis of taxpayer reporting. Accounting Review, 66(3), 577–593. Google Scholar
Alm, J., Torgler, B. (2006). Culture differences and tax morale in the United States and in Europe. Journal of Economic Psychology, 27(2), 224–246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2005.09.002
Crossref
Google Scholar
Andreoni, J., Erard, B., Feinstein, J. S. (1998). Tax compliance. Journal of Economic Literature, 36(2), 818–860. Google Scholar
Batson, C. D., Thompson, E. R., Seuferling, G., Whitney, H., Strongman, J. A. (1999). Moral hypocrisy: Appearing moral to oneself without being so. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(3), 525–537. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.77.3.525
Crossref
Google Scholar
Białobrzeska, O., Bocian, K., Parzuchowski, M., Frankowska, N., Wojciszke, B. (2015). To nie fair (bo mi szkodzi): zaangażowanie interesu własnego zniekształca ocenę sprawiedliwości dystrybutywnej. Psychologia Społeczna, 2(33) 149–162. http://dx.doi.org/10.7366/1896180020153303 Google Scholar
Blanthorne, C., Kaplan, S. (2008). An Egocentric Model of the Relations among the Opportunity to Underreport, Social Norms, Ethical Beliefs, and Underreporting Behavior. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 33(7–8), 684–703. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aos.2008.02.001
Crossref
Google Scholar
Blaufus, K., Braune, M., Hundsdoerfer, J., Jacob, M. (2015). Self-serving bias and tax morale. Economics Letters, 131, 91–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2015.03.041.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Bocian, K., Wojciszke, B. (2014). Self-interest Bias in Moral Judgments of Others’ Actions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 40(7), 898–909. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167214529800
Crossref
Google Scholar
Braithwaite, V., Wenzel, M. (2008). Integrating explanations of tax evasion and avoidance. W: A. Lewis (red.), Psychology and economic behavior (s. 304–331). Cambridge University Press.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Brizi, A., Giacomantonio, M., Schumpe, B. M., Mannetti, L. (2015). Intention to pay taxes or to avoid them: The impact of social value orientation. Journal of Economic Psychology, 50, 22–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2015.06.005
Crossref
Google Scholar
CBOS (Centrum Badania Opinii Społecznej). (2010). Polacy o prowadzeniu biznesu. Komunikat z badań, BS/158/2010. Fundacja Centrum Badania Opinii Społecznej. https://www.cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2010/K_158_10.PDF Google Scholar
Cullis, J., Jones, P. R., Savoia, A. (2012). Social norms and tax compliance: Framing the decision to pay tax. The Journal of Socio-Economics, 41(2), 159–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2011.12.003
Crossref
Google Scholar
Epley, N., Caruso, E. M. (2004). Egocentric ethics. Social Justice Research, 17(2), 171–187. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:SORE.0000027408.72713.45
Crossref
Google Scholar
Feld, L. P., Schmidt, A. J., Schneider, F. (2011). Deterrence Policy and the Size of the Shadow Economy in Germany: An Institutional and Empirical Analysis. W: F. Schneider (red.), Handbook on the Shadow Economy (s. 409-440). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Goodwin, G., Darley, J. (2008). The psychology of meta-ethics: Exploring objectivism. Cognition, 106, 1339–1366. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2007.06.007
Crossref
Google Scholar
Graetz, M., Wilde, L. (1985). The Economics of Tax Compliance: Fact and Fantasy. National Tax Journal, 38(3), 355–363. https://doi.org/10.1086/NTJ41792032.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Howell, D. C., Rogier, M., Yzerbyt, V., Bestgen, Y. (1998). Statistical methods in human sciences. Wadsworth. Google Scholar
Kiełczewska, A., Sawulski, J. (2021). Postawy Polaków wobec płacenia podatków i roli państwa w gospodarce. Polski Instytut Ekonomiczny. Google Scholar
Kirchler, E. (1998). Differential representations of taxes: Analysis of free associations and judgments of five employment groups. The Journal of Socio-Economics, 27(1), 117–131, https://doi.org/10.1016/S1053-5357(99)80080-8
Crossref
Google Scholar
Kirchler, E. (2007). The Economic Psychology of Tax Behaviour. Cambridge University Press.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Kołodziej, S. (2023). Między niechęcią a obowiązkiem. O postawach motywacyjnych podatników. Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar. Google Scholar
Lago-Peñas, I., Lago-Peñas, S. (2010). The determinants of tax morale in comparative perspective: Evidence from European countries. European Journal of Political Economy, 26(4), 441–453. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2010.06.003
Crossref
Google Scholar
Milewski, R (red.). (2002). Podstawy ekonomii. Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN. Google Scholar
Niesiobędzka, M. (2013). Dlaczego nie płacimy podatków. Psychologiczna analiza uchylania się od opodatkowania. Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar. Google Scholar
Niesiobędzka, M., Kołodziej, S. (2016). Sprawiedliwe czy korzystne? Wpływ subiektywnej sprawiedliwości proceduralnej i korzyści własnych na poziom akceptacji decyzji administracji podatkowej. Psychologia Ekonomiczna, 10, 25–39. https://doi.org/10.15678/PJOEP.2016.10.03
Crossref
Google Scholar
Niesiobędzka, M., Kołodziej, S. (2020). The fair process effect in taxation: The roles of procedural fairness, outcome favorability and outcome fairness in the acceptance of tax authority decisions. Current Psychology: A Journal for Diverse Perspectives on Diverse Psychological Issues, 39(1), 246–253. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-017-9762-x
Crossref
Google Scholar
Orviska, M., Hudson, J. (2002). Tax evasion, civic duty and the law abiding citizen. European Journal of Political Economy, 19(1), 83–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0176-2680(02)00131-3
Crossref
Google Scholar
Polska Rada Biznesu. (2016). Wizerunek przedsiębiorcy. Raport Polskiej Rady Biznesu. Polska Rada Biznesu i Forum Obywatelskiego Rozwoju. https://prb.pl/wpcontent/uploads/2018/05/wizerunek-przedsie-biorcy-online-zop.pdf Google Scholar
SJP. (b.d.). Słownik języka polskiego PWN online (https://sjp.pwn.pl/). Google Scholar
Sternberg, R. J. (1985). Beyond IQ: A Triarchic Theory of Intelligence. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar
Szymczak, W. (2018). Podstawy statystyki dla psychologów. Wydawnictwo Difin. Google Scholar
Torgler, B. (2011). Tax Morale and Compliance: Review of Evidence and Case Studies for Europe. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper nr 5922. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1977173.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Wenzel, M. (2004). An Analysis of Norm Processes in Tax Compliance. Journal of Economic Psychology, 25(2), 213–228. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-4870(02)00168-X
Crossref
Google Scholar
Wojciszke, B., Bocian, K., Parzuchowski, M., Szymków, A. (2014). Nieuchronna tendencyjność ocen moralnych. Nauka, 3, 45–62. Google Scholar
Zaleśkiewicz, T. (2015). Psychologia ekonomiczna. Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN. Google Scholar
Akademia Leona Koźmińskiego, Katedra Psychologii Ekonomicznej
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7467-1048
License
![Creative Commons License](http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/4.0/88x31.png)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.