HOW RELIGIONS AFFECT ATTITUDES TOWARD ETHICS OF TAX EVASION? A COMPARATIVE AND DEMOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS

BENK S., McGee R. W., YÜZBAŞI B.

JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF RELIGIONS AND IDEOLOGIES, vol.14, no.41, pp.202-223, 2015 (AHCI) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 14 Issue: 41
  • Publication Date: 2015
  • Journal Name: JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF RELIGIONS AND IDEOLOGIES
  • Journal Indexes: Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.202-223
  • Keywords: tax evasion, ethics, religion, empirical studies, World Values Survey, demographic, logistic regression, MORALE, BUSINESS
  • Inonu University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This paper focuses specifically on how religions shape attitudes towards ethics of tax evasion. Firstly, the paper begins with an overview of the four views on the ethics of tax evasion that have emerged over the centuries, then goes on to review some of the theoretical and empirical literature on the subject. The empirical part of the study examines attitudes toward tax evasion in 57 countries from the perspectives of six religions using the data from Wave 6 (2010-2014) of the World Values Survey. The sample population is more than 52,000. More than a dozen demographic variables were examined. The results study found that attitude toward cheating on taxes does differ by religion.