Jewish Perspectives on the Ethics of Tax Evasion

Abstract

The ethics of tax evasion has been discussed sporadically in the theological and philosophical literature for at least 500 years. Martin Crowe wrote a doctoral thesis that reviewed much of that literature in 1944. The debate revolved around about 15 issues. Over the centuries, three main views evolved on the topic.

This paper begins with a review of the literature and identifies the main issues and summarizes the three main viewpoints that have emerged over the centuries. It then reports on the results of two surveys of members of the Jewish faith who were asked their opinions on the ethics of tax evasion. The results of the two surveys were then compared. Male scores were also compared to female scores to determine if the responses differed by gender.

Keywords: ethics, tax evasion, Jewish, gender

JEL Classification: H26, E62, J16, J14, J1, K42, M4