Tax Evasion and Ethics: A Demographic Study of 33 Countries

Abstract

Tax evasion is a worldwide phenomenon. The problem is especially acute in transition and developing economies, since they do not have an appropriate infrastructure in place to collect taxes. Attitudes of the citizenry are an important factor in the collection of taxes. The present study reviews the attitudes of taxpayers in 33 countries on the issue of the ethics of tax evasion and considers demographic differences (gender, age, education and income level) that may impact these attitudes. The data examined was collected as part of a larger study on human beliefs and values. This study found that women are more opposed to tax evasion than men; older people are more opposed to tax evasion than younger people; less educated people are more opposed to tax evasion than better educated people; and poorer people are more opposed to tax evasion than wealthier people.

Keywords: tax evasion, ethics, gender, age, education, income

JEL Classification: D6, E62, H26, J16, J14, J1, K34, K42, M14, M4