Henk Elffers

The consequences of different strategies for measuring tax evasion behavior

Abstract A critical review of existing measures of tax evasion suggests the need for innovative measurement strategies. Toward this end, a new method for documenting cases of individual tax evasion without compromising confidentiality is described. Results of an investigation in The Netherlands indicated negligible correspondence between scores on this measure and self-reports of tax evasion behavior. This outcome is particularly disturbing since the self-reports were obtained under conditions that should have maximized their veridicality. Additional analyses indicated that different sets of attitudes, norms and personality variables are correlated with admitted tax evasion and with patterns of actual behavior. The implications for future research are discussed.

Exploring the limits of self-reports and reasoned action: An investigation of the psychology of tax evasion behavior.

Reflexions sur les problemes theoriques et methodologiques lies au constat de non correlation entre les renseignements donnes par 155 citoyens neerlandais sur une eventuelle fraude fiscale et les indications fournies par des sources officielles

Tax evasion research: A critical appraisal and theoretical model

Abstract If social science is to contribute to an understanding of tax evasion behavior, it must develop accurate measures of evasion at the individual level, identify the variables associated with evasion, and construct compelling explanatory models. Toward this end, past research on tax evasion and noncompliance is reviewed with an emphasis on distinguishing between those variables that instigate the behavior and those that act as constraints against its occurence. The conclusions of this review suggest the potential value of a social psychological model of tax evasion behavior that specifies a set of situationally defined instigations and constraints and their logically analogous counterpart within the individual.

Decision frame and opportunity as determinants of tax cheating: An international experimental study

Abstract The experimental studies described in this article were designed to examine the effects of decision frame and opportunity on tax evasion behavior in the context of a business management task that required subjects to file simulated tax returns. The data analyzed were derived from 674 subjects representing samples drawn for ten separate experiments conducted in six different countries.

Influencing the prospects of tax evasion

Abstract Two proposals to enhance tax compliance are discussed within the context of the Dutch income tax. Both proposals use prospect theory and are supported by empirical data. First, it is argued that deliberate overwithholding of income taxes will further the tendency to comply. Secondly, it is demonstrated that offering the taxpayer a choice between full itemised deduction or a considerable overall standard deduction will enhance compliance as well as considerably reduce the efforts needed by the tax authorities to prevent income tax evasion.

Egoism: Concept, measurement and implications for deviance

Abstract The conceptualization and development of a measure of egoism - the excessive concern with ones own pleasure or advantage at the expense of community well-being - is described. Results from a series of reliability studies indicated that the Egoism Scale exhibited satisfactory internal consistency in separate samples totalling approximately 2,000 respondents in two countries as well as a test-retest correlation of 0.73 over a 9-month interval for a representative sample of the Dutch population. Studies carried out with Dutch university students found that egoism shared no more than moderate common variance with any of the “Big Five” personality factors, Eysencks Psychoticism factor, the Psychopathic Deviate or the Cynicism scales of the MMPl 2 as well as a nonsignificant correlation with a social desirability measure. In addition, the hypothesized pattern of cross-national and gender differences in egoism scores obtained for comparable samples of Dutch and American university students and, within...

Tax Evasion Research: Measurement Strategies and Theoretical Models

In recent years, policy makers as well as social scientists have begun to recognize that income tax evasion is a behavioral problem that seriously threatens the capacity of government to raise public revenue. It is a problem that transcends cultural and political boundaries. For example, estimates have indicated that the equivalent of 7,5% of Britain’s gross national product escapes legitimate taxation, while 17% of the taxable income in Belgium remains undeclared (Lewis, 1982). In the United States, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS, 1983) has estimated that the tax gap (the difference between taxes owed and taxes filed) was

Attitude Toward Death, Fear of Being Declared Dead Too Soon, and Donation of Organs After Death.

81,5 billion for 1981; an amount that exceeded the federal deficit for that year. Beyond the prospect of substantial deficit reductions without spending cuts or tax increases, other benefits would be derived from minimizing tax evasion. As Spicer (1975) has noted, tax evasion tends both to undermine the resolve of honest taxpayers and, insofar as it occurs more frequently in some segments of the population than in others, to hinder realization of the distributional and equity goals of taxation.

Decision frames, opportunity and tax evasion: An experimental approach

Although death anxieties seem to play a decisive role in the degree of willingness to donate organs for transplantation after death, the results of most studies have not been able to explain satisfactorily the discrepancy between attitude(s) and behavior in the matter of organ donation. Following up on prior research, this article describes a study based on Weyants cost-benefit model for altruistic behavior. Two death anxieties (the attitude toward death and the fear of being declared dead too soon) are introduced separately to explain organ donation behavior. The results show that these two almost unrelated death anxieties improve the explanatory force of the attitude-behavior relationship with respect to organ donation.

Rules for Breaking Formal Rules: Social Representations and Everyday Rule-Governed Behavior

Abstract This paper examines the role of decision frames and opportunity in tax evasion. In an experiment, framed as a business simulation, student subjects made a series of decisions. Two propositions were tested: first, that having to pay extra tax after insufficient tax has been withheld will lead to more evasion than receiving a refund after too much has been withheld. Second, that greater opportunity to evade taxes will lead to increased evasion. Both propositions are supported.