Tax Ethics and Taxpayer Attitudes: A Survey

Author(s): Young-dahl Song and Tinsley E. Yarbrough

Source: Public Administration Review, Vol. 38, No. 5 (Sep. - Oct., 1978), pp. 442-452
Published by: Wiley on behalf of the American Society for Public Administration
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442
Tax Ethics and Taxpayer Attitudes:
A Survey
Young-dahl Song, East Carolina University
Tinsley E. Yarbrough, East Carolina University
Politically and economically, few matters are as im-
portant as the taxes people pay to their government.
Justice Holmes once described taxes as a mark of the privi-
lege of citizenship in a civilized society, but for most of us
it is an unwelcomed burden to be endured. Remote and in-
tangible governmental benefits, vast as they may be, are
less likely to be appreciated than the immediate benefits in-
dividuals receive for their money in the private market.
The issue of the tyranny of taxation without represen-
tation provided a significant momentum for the political
movement which led to the Declaration of Independence
and subsequent formation of the union. The revolun-
tionaries of the day, with diverse regional, economic, and
political backgrounds, were united in their opposition to
the new taxes which the British Parliament attempted to
impose on the colonies. Two hundred years of population
growth accompanied by industrialization, urbanization,
and wars have produced crushing tax burdens at a time
when the nation and its people are suffering from both
high unemployment and high inflation. Randy Hamilton,
past president of the American Society for Public Admini-
stration, warned the Society's members that as the nation's
tax burden approaches 35 per cent of the Gross National
Product, the United States should anticipate the same sort
of massive taxpayer revolt now being experienced in
certain European countries.' The complexities of the tax
laws, which leave even the better educated taxpayer
confused and bewildered, have added insult to injury.
Economists have long been exploring various economic
aspects of taxation, including tolerable and maximum
levels of taxation; its effects on price stability, economic
growth, and unemployment; and the distribution of tax
burdens among various groups of taxpayers. This study,
on the other hand, is an attempt to explore the tax attitudes
of the people who pay taxes to government-directly or in-
directly, knowingly or, in some cases, unknowingly. Ab-
stract economic analyses are undoubtedly important to an
understanding of tax systems, but of equal importance in
a democratic system is the taxpayer's perception, evalua-
tion and compliance with the tax laws.
Research for this article was funded in part by a grant from the
East Carolina University Research Council, and is herewith
gratefully acknowledged.
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* In a tax system based largely on voluntary compliance, the
taxpayer's standards of tax ethics are extremely important.
Also of significance are attitudes about fiscal and tax policies,
tax audits and the audit experience, proper bases of tax burden
allocation, the equity and efficiency of tax administration, and
the shortcomings of the federal income tax. A survey of one set
of taxpayers suggests that their overall level of tax ethics should
receive a mark of only "barely passing" (60.3 on a scale of 100)
and that a number of social, economic, and political variables
are significantly related to variations in standards of tax ethics.
Taxpayers are also particularly dissatisfied with the burdens
which the federal income tax places on the middle-income tax-
payer. On the other hand, they generally have faith in the ad-
ministrative efficiency of tax agencies, feel that people should
pay taxes according to their ability, feel that they pay about the
same amount of taxes as others in similar situations, and feel
they get just about the same amount of benefit from
government as they pay in taxes. Taxpayers also may be less ig-
norant about fiscal and tax matters than might have been
assumed.
Following a brief discussion of the survey method em-
ployed in this study, the paper consists of two parts. In the
first part, the main focus is on the "tax ethics" of
taxpayers. A tax is commonly defined as a compulsory levy
by the government on the people's income or wealth
without a direct quid pro quo. As such, a high level of tax
ethics is a prerequisite for a fair and successful tax admini-
stration. Especially in a country such as the United States,
where the tax collection system is based largely on volun-
tary compliance by taxpayers, a high standard of tax ethics
Young-dahl Song is associate professor of political science, East
Carolina University. He is co-editor of Development Administra-
tion (Korean, 1973). His articles have appeared in the Korean
Public Administration Journal (Korean), Public Administration
Journal Monthly (Korean), and Yonsei Social Science Review
(Korean), among other journals. He has translated into Korean a
number of English-language studies in public administration.
Tinsley E. Yarbrough is professor of political science, East Caro-
lina University. His articles have appeared in the Virginia Law
Review, Duke Law Journal, Texas Law Review, Washington and
Lee Law Review, Mississippi Law Journal, and University of
Miami Law Review, among other journals.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1978
 TAX ETHICS AND TAXPAYER ATTITUDES 443

is of crucial importance. If a substantial portion of naire immediately and/or needed assistance in completi
taxpayers are determined to evade or avoid their tax obli- it, the field worker collected the questionnaire on the sit
gations, no amount of effort by tax administrators will Ordinarily, however, the field worker gave the responde
ensure adequate revenue for the government. The ques- the questionnaire and a stamped envelope so that he or sh
tions explored in this portion of the study are: (A) How might complete and return it at his or her convenience.
high or low is the level of tax ethics among taxpayers? and the 640 questionnaires distributed, 295 were returned-a
(B) What are the correlates of tax ethics? In the second return rate of 46.1 per cent. A few questionnaires returned
substantive section, taxpayer attitudes and perceptions re- were unusable because the respondent either failed to
garding several tax-related issues are examined. They are:answer almost all of the questions or failed to answer
(A) the extent of taxpayer knowledge about fiscal and tax according to instructions. Consequently, the survey find-
matters, (B) taxpayer attitudes about tax audits and the ings are based on 287 completed questionnaires, which
audit experience, (C) the proper base of tax burden constituted a 44.8 per cent return rate.
allocation, (D) attitudes about tax equity and administra-
tive efficiency, (E) attitudes about the equity of certain
taxes, and (F) taxpayer perceptions of problems or short-
comings in federal income tax regulations.
. . . most people feel that the tax laws
should be respected but do not feel that vio-
Research Design lations constitute so serious a crime as to
warrant physical imprisonment.... the
This survey was conducted in an eastern North Carolina typical taxpayer apparently considers tax
city with a population of approximately 34,000. Admit- evasion only slightly more serious than
tedly, the selection of the survey site was based primarily "stealing a bicycle. "
on such non-scientific factors as financial constraint, per-
sonnel availability, and convenience; and it cannot be
claimed that the site selected and the people surveyed are
representative of the people of North Carolina, let along The following is a brief profile of the respondents: Since
the entire national taxpayer population. The city selected, field workers requested that the questionnaire be
however, does have one major characteristic which tends completed by the household member who normally
to distinguish it from the conservative, rural character handled tax matters unless that person was unavailable or
typical of eastern North Carolina and the South in general. unwilling to participate in the survey, most (61.2%o) were
The survey site is a university town with over 11,000 male. The racial composition of the survey (74.9%/o white,
college students, more than 600 faculty members and other 25.1 % black) roughly reflected the racial composition of
university-related staff and family members. The presence the community surveyed. 6.3 per cent were separated or di-
of the university and a number of other factors help to vorced, and 14.0 per cent were single. The average age of
distinguish the city from most other towns of the rural the respondents was 45; the median age was 43. 61.3 per
South-and bring it closer to the national pattern in terms cent were employed full-time; only 2.1 per cent labelled
of levels of liberalism, education, and income. While themselves unemployed. A wide variety of occupations
extreme caution should be taken in generalizing from thewas represented in the sample. 40.4 per cent had received a
survey findings, therefore, the researchers believe that the high school education, 26.5 per cent possed a college
findings are generally indicative of the knowledge, education, and 17.3 per cent had received education be-
attitudes, and perceptions of taxpayers in general. yond the undergraduate college level. Two-thirds of the re-
The survey was conducted during the months of July spondents were homeowners, 26.1 per cent were renters,
and August, 1975, a few months after taxpayers had gone and 5.9 per cent had other living arrangements. Family in-
through the annual process of filing federal and state come ranged from $10,000 to $20,000 for about 60 per cent
income tax returns. The period selected was thought to be of the respondents; 7 per cent had family incomes of over
sufficiently distant from the filing period that the data$35,000. 64.5 per cent of the respondents were Democrats,
would not be biased by any exaggerated and critical 19.4 per cent were Republicans, and 16.1 per cent listed no
feelings about the tax system developed during that period.party affiliation.
Of 10,141 housing units in the survey city, 640 were
chosen by a random selection method using the city Tax Ethics
housing map. The size of the sample allowed for approxi-
mately a four per cent margin of error in the proportions A remarkable aspect of the operation of the tax system
with 95 degrees of confidence. A field worker, after havingin the United States is that it is based largely on self-assess-
located a housing unit, would introduce himself with a ment and voluntary compliance by taxpayers. In the words
letter of introduction and explain the academic and anon- of Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson, it is "a
ymous nature of the survey. The person surveyed in each system of taxation by confession. That a people so
household was the member who normally prepared tax numerous, scattered and individualistic annually assesses
returns or, in the absence of such a person, an adult itself with a tax liability, often in highly burdensome
member of the household. In a limited number of cases inamounts, is a reassuring sign of the stability and vitality of
which a respondent was willing to complete the question- our system of self-government."2 Self-assessment and

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 444 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
voluntary compliance are at the very heart of the tax
system in the United States. It behooves us, then, to look
into the taxpayer's compliance behavior more closely.
Why are millions of taxpayers led to list and declare their
obligations and file millions of returns on time every year?
A simple model of taxpayer compliance behavior may be
drawn as follows:
LEGAL ENVIRONMENT
TAX ETHICS SELF-ASSESSMENT
OPPORTUNITY AND OTHER
SITUATIONAL FACTORS TAX PAYMENT
Voluntary compliance, including self-assessment of tax
obligations and eventual payment, is determined by three
major factors: the over-all legal environment, the citizen's
tax ethics, and other situational factors operating at a par-
ticular time and place. The over-all legal environment
would in turn be structured by (1) the legitimacy of the
laws of the state, (2) the effectiveness of the law enforce-
ment process, and (3) the citizen's understanding and
acceptance of his legal obligation. Situational factors that
work to facilitate or hinder voluntary compliance may
include level of income, the unemployment rate, tax rates,
and the effectiveness of tax administration agencies. Tax
ethics, by which is meant the norms of behavior governing
citizens as taxpayers in their relationship with the
government, will have a significant effect on compliance
behavior. In such countries as France and Italy, it is said,
tax evasion is a favorite sport which taxpayers play un-
abashedly against their government. All these factors to a
certain degree are interrelated. The legal environment
affects tax ethics and standards of tax ethics are influenced
by situational factors.
We have attempted to explore the issue of tax ethics in
two dimensions-attitudinal and behavioral. By the
attitudinal dimension of tax ethics is meant the normative
attitudes of taxpayers with regard to their tax obligations.
By the behavioral dimension of tax ethics, we mean tax
ethics as reflected in taxpayer compliance activities with
respect to the tax laws.
Attitudinal Dimension of Tax Ethics
The respondents were asked to agree or disagree with
seven statements which were designed to measure their
ethical predisposition toward tax obligations and were
given scores ranging from zero (0) to four (4) for each re-
sponse, the higher score indicating a higher level of tax
ethics. The seven statements are:
Variable 1 Since tax "dodging" hurts no one but
the government, it is not a serious
offense.
Variable 2 A taxpayer need not volunarily give in-
fomation about illegal activities if the
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REVIEW
tax collector does not question him on
that point.
Variable 3 A person should report to the govern-
ment anyone who cheats on his taxes,
including a family member.
Variable 4 Considering the high cost of living
today, one should be fined but not jailed
for padding a few income tax deduc-
tions.
Variable 5 In dealing with the I.R.S., the main
thing is not to get caught.
Variable 6 There are so many "loopholes" favor-
ing the rich that the average taxpayer
should not be expected to obey all his
tax obligations.
Variable 7 A man who paid no tax on his $100,000
income cannot be blamed on moral
grounds so long as he made use of tax
loopholes.
The taxpayer complaint is not that too
many cheat the government and get away
with it but that the government provides
unequal opportunities to different income
groups for reducing the tax burden.
Factor analysis of the above seven variables revealed
that Variable 7 (using tax loopholes) is very much sepa-
rated from the other variables. This finding led us to con-
clude that a response to this statement tests a person's
conception of legal responsibility rather than his sense of
tax ethics. Therefore, we excluded this particular variable
in developing composite indexes on tax ethics.
In order to measure the level of tax ethics, two indexes
were developed. The first one was a simple sum of scores
for the above-mentioned six statements converted into a
percentage score, and the second index was a composite
index using factor score coefficients.3 Index 1 and Index 2
proved to be a highly correlated (Pearson's r = 0.91).
Since Index 1 is easier to translate in simple terms, it was
used in explaining the levels of tax ethics. Index 2 was used
in other statistical analyses of correlates to tax ethics dis-
cussed in the next section of the study.
The possible score for Index 1 ranges from 0 to 100,
scores higher than 50 indicating positive tax ethics and
scores below 50 indicating negative tax ethics. The tax
ethics score among our respondents varied from a low of
20 to a high of 95. A little over two-thirds of the respon-
dents (69 per cent) revealed positive tax ethics, one-fifth
(21 per cent) had negative tax ethics and the rest (10 per
cent) exhibited neutral tax ethics. It is noteworthy,
however, that the average tax ethics score is only 60.4,
which cannot be said to be very high; only 3 per cent of the
respondents had a score higher than 90. (See Table 1.) A
recent Gallup Poll reported that public morals, as per-
ceived by the people in the United States, have been
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1978
 TAX ETHICS AND TAXPAYER ATTITUDES 445

Table 1. a tax auditor fails to ask a specific question, less than one-
Tax Ethics Score Distribution: Index I half of the respondents (47.6 per cent) feel that the tax-
payer being audited has a duty voluntarily to advance
information regarding his illegal tax activities. About 71
Score Range Cumulative
per cent of the people feel that the average taxpayer is ex-
0 to 100 Percentage Percentage
pected to obey all his tax obligations in spite of tax loop-
0- 19 0.0%o 0.0%o holes favoring the rich. Nearly one-half (49.1 per cent) feel
that tax violators should be fined but not sentenced to a
20- 29 2.2 2.2
30 - 49 7.8 10.0
jail term for padding a few income tax deductions. In other

50 10.1 21.0 words, most people feel that the tax laws should be

51 - 60 17.6 48.7 respected but do not feel that violations constitute so

61 - 70 23.2 71.9 serious a crime as to warrant physical imprisonment.

71 - 80 18.7 85.0 This rather lenient attitude-viewing the tax violation as

81 - 90 6.3 97.0 less than a serious crime-was revealed also in responses to

91- 100 3.0 100.0 another set of questions in the questionnaire. The
respondents were asked to rank the severity of tax fraud in
Mean=60.4 Median=61.0 Mode=66.7 relation to four other broad categories of violent crimes
and four broad types of property-related crimes. Most of
the people surveyed responded that tax fraud is a less

declining over the last several decades. In the absence of serious crime than such violent crimes as kidnapping,
comparable data, it cannot be stated here whether tax
drunken-driving, hit and run, and mugging. In comparison
with property-related crimes, tax evasion was believed to
ethics have been declining over the years or not. However,
it is reasonable to assume that standards of tax ethics, as
be a less serious offense than arson, embezzlement, and

part of the over-all public morality, have also been declin-

ing. At the present, American tax ethics receive a score, in
our judgment, of "barely passing."
A closer look into the respondents' answer to each of the
six statements is illuminating (See Table 2). An overwhelm-
ing proportion (87.7 per cent) disagreed with the statement
that "since tax 'dodging' hurts no one but the government,
it is not a serious offense." Except for a small minority
(7.6 per cent), tax dodging is apparently regarded as a
crime by most people. Furthermore, four in five disagreed
that "the main thing in dealing with the Internal Revenue
Service is not to get caught"; only one in five, in other
words, condoned the idea of violating the tax laws so long
as one is not arrested and punished for it.
On the other hand, people do not think they have a duty
to report all tax cheaters, including family members, to the
government. A little more than half of the respondents
(52.5 per cent) feel they have no obligation to report tax
cheaters to the government, while less than one in three
(30.3 per cent) believe that they should do so. Moreover, if
bribery; the typical taxpayer apparently considers tax
evasion only slightly more serious than "stealing a
bicycle." (See Tables 3 and 4.)
Behavioral Dimension of Tax Ethics
Since it would be not only embarrassing but probably
futile to ask respondents whether they had intentionally
violated tax laws, we asked respondents to guess what pro-
portion of other taxpayers-most people, some people, a
few people, or few people-commit each of the following
acts: (1) not reporting some income, (2) padding business
expenses and other deductions, (3) lying to tax auditors
even when audited, (4) falsifying supporting documents,
and (5) failing to file a tax return altogether.
The act which most people clearly did not suspect others
of committing was failing to file an income tax return
altogether: nearly nine in ten (89.5 per cent) stated that
few or a few people would be guilty of this type of blatant
tax law violation. (See Table 5.) The next act which most
respondents believed not committed except by a small per-

Table 2

Responses to Statements Relating to Tax Ethics.

Strongly Strongly
Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Agree

Tax Dodging is Not a Serious Crime 43.5To 44.2qo 4.2qo 4.7q% 2.9%
Need Not Volunteer Information 11.6 36.0 15.6 32.4 4.4
Should Report Tax Cheaters 9.0 43.5 17.3 26.3 4.0
Fine but Don't Jail for Padding 7.2 33.0 10.8 40.9 8.2
Main Thing is Not Getting Caught 27.2 54.8 5.7 10.4 1.8
Should Not Expect to Obey All Laws 15.4 55.7 4.8 16.1 8.1
Using Tax Loopholes is O.K. 21.1 40.9 5.4 26.2 6.5

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 446 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Table 3
Tax Fraud in Comparison with other
Violent Crimes
Question: Which of the following is the most serious
crime?
Kidnapping 52.1 To
Drunken Driving 23.3
Hit and Run 14.2
Mugging 11.1
Tax Fraud 4.6
105.3To
*Exceeds 100.0 because some respondents gave an identical rank
to more than one form of crime.
centage of taxpayers is claiming more dependent deduc-
tions than the number to which one is entitled: 75.7 per
cent answered that few or a few people would do such a
thing.
On the other hand, three-fourths of the respondents feel
that some or most people pad business expenses and other
deductions; and 63.9 per cent feel that some or most people
do not report all of their taxable income. One in three be-
lieves some or most people falsify supporting documents
and/or lie to tax auditors during audits.
The above statistics are not a surprising revelation in
view of the relatively low level of tax ethics revealed by the
survey and the findings of other studies on legal com-
pliance in the United States. The President's Commission
on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice
reported that an independent survey of 1,700 persons
found that 91 per cent of the sample admitted they had
committed acts for which they might have received jail sen-
tences.4 Hess and Torney also reported that more than half
of the students they surveyed believed neither that people
always get caught when breaking the law nor that
lawbreakers are always punished after having been ar-
rested. I
Table 5
Proportion of Taxpayers Committing Various Forms of Tax Evasion
Question: When filing tax returns, what proportion of taxpayers do you think actually commit the following acts?
Most
People
Claim Too Many Dependents 3.7Wo 20.601o 34.2Wo 41.5W0o
Not File Tax Return Altogether 4.1 7.5 21.3 67.2
Falsifying Documents 7.1 21.2 37.5 34.2
Lying to the Tax Auditor 7.4 29.4 32.3 30.9
Not Report Some Taxable Income 20.8 43.1 23.0 13.1
Padding Business Expenses 24.4 49.4 22.5 3.7
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REVIEW
Table 4
Tax Evasion in Comparison with other
Property-Related Crimes
Question: Which of the following is the most serious
crime?
Setting Property on Fire 49.6%o
Embezzlement 31.5
Bribery 11.9
Tax Evasion 7.0
Stealing Bicycles 4.4
104.4To*
*Exceeds 100.0 because some respondents gave an identical rank
to more than one form of crime.
Factor analysis and an examination of the percentage
distributions for various illegal forms of activities in our
data reveal that the governing factor explaining people's
tax compliance behavior is the probability and subsequent
fear of detection by law enforcement agencies. Most
respondents apparently believe that failing to file an in-
come tax return is too obvious a violation of the laws not
to be discovered whereas not reporting all taxable income
and padding deductions are practiced by many without
fear of exposure. This finding is consistent with Rodgers'
finding that among students responding positively to the
question "Do you think people should always obey laws?"
two-thirds of the students based their behavior on punish-
ment-avoidance or rule-conformity considerations rather
than on an internalized ethical standard governing their
compliance.6
Another interesting point is that the level of tax ethics is
negatively related to the degree of suspicion that others
violate the tax laws: those who scored high on the tax
ethics index tended to believe that others comply with laws
more faithfully, and those who are inclined to believe that
others cheat tend to have a low tax ethics score (r = -0.279
p 0.001).
Some A Few Few
People People People
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1978
 TAX ETHICS AND TAXPAYER ATTITUDES 447

Correlates to Tax Ethics near one: those respondents under 40 and over 65 tend to
have a low level of tax ethics. Those between 40 and 65
As Table 6 shows, among the variables treated as inter-
rank very high on the tax ethics index.
val variables, income level is most strongly related to tax
A multiple regression analysis reveals that all of the
ethics (r = 0.36). Level of education is also strongly
above variables explain about 29 per cent of the variations
related (r = 0.26). Thus, those with high levels of income
in tax ethics level (Multiple R = 0.54, R2 = 0.29). Three
and education exhibit a high level of tax ethics.
variables-income, political efficacy, and general distrust
General distrust of people (as expressed in a respon-
of people-explain about 22 per cent of the variations in
dent's view that people are basically vicious) is negatively
tax ethics levels (Multiple R = 0.47, R2 = 0.22).
related to tax ethics (r = -0.30); those who are inclined to
Among the nominal variables, an analysis of variance
suspect others' goodness tend to have a low level of tax
reveals the most potent relationship between tax ethics and
ethics themselves. As mentioned earlier, more specific
race: whites have a high level of tax ethics, and race alone
distrust (as manifested in respondent beliefs about other
explains 19 per cent of variation in the tax ethics level. The
people's tax violations) is also negatively related to tax
average tax ethics score on Index I (ranging from 0 to 100)
ethics (r = -0.28).
for whites is 64 while the score for blacks is 50. Since
blacks possess situational characteristics associated with a
low level of tax ethics, we held constant such variables as
income, education, general distrust, alienation, and low
Table 6.
sense of political efficacy; nevertheless, the relationship
Variables related to Tax Ethics:
between tax ethics and race remained strong and
Pearson's r
statistically significant.
There is a weak but statistically significant relationship
Tax Ethics with between tax ethics and marital status: single, divorced, or
widowed people have a lower level of tax ethics than
Income Level 0.3560*
married people. The scores on Index 1 for the married and
Sense of Alienation 0.3024*
non-married are 62 and 57, respectively. Again, single
General Distrust of People 0.2955*
people are usually younger, lower on the education and
Suspicion (Others Cheat) 0.2788*
income ladders, and less trusting.7 Tax laws which deny
Educational Level 0.2629*
singles the opportunity to reduce their tax burden by claim-
Politicians Waste their Time 0.2596*
ing dependent exemptions and other kinds of deductions
Political Efficacy 0.2130*
allowed to married persons might also be a factor.
Politicians Manipulate People 0.1029**
Homeowners rather than renters, those who are knowl-
Age 0.0576***
edgeable in fiscal and tax matters, and those who believe
their share of the tax burden is relatively fair tend to have a
* P<0.001
high tax ethics score.
** P < 0.05
Four variables mentioned above-race, marital status,
P< 0.18
home-ownership, and knowledge of fiscal matters-ex-
plain about 24.5 per cent of the variation in tax ethics level.

Sense of political efficacy-as reflected in responses to a

question whether the respondent feels that local Table 7.
government officials would act on his request for public Tax Ethics and Other Variables
action-is yet another factor negatively related to tax
ethics (r = -0.27). Those who feel that local officials would Eta2
not even listen to them about certain public problems
evidence a low level of tax ethics. In a similar manner, Race 0.186*
sense of alienation is inversely related to tax ethics; those Knowledge of Fiscal Matters 0.107*
who feel that a good many elections are not important and Home-Ownership 0.068*
not worth bothering with also reflect a low level of tax Marital Status 0.068*
ethics (r = -0.30). Belief that Tax Burden Fair 0.037**
Level of tax ethics has a negative relationship with anti-
*P< 0.01
government feelings: those who feel that politicians spend
P < 0.022
most of their time involved in efforts to keep themselves in
office and that people are manipulated by politicians regis-
ter a low tax ethics score (r = -0.26, r = -0.10, respec-
tively). A few variables that were not found to be statistically re-
The correlation coefficient between tax ethics and age is lated to tax ethics are of considerable interest. Sex,
only 0.06 and fails to pass the test of significance. But a employment status, religion, and party affiliation are not
closer examination reveals that the relationship is a curvili- associated with varying levels of tax ethics. Whether a

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 448 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW

respondent had been audited, whether the auditing ex- Tax Audits and Audit Experiences
perience was a pleasant one, and whether the respondent
The Internal Revenue Service audits about 1.6 million
felt he got sufficient benefits for his tax was not related to
returns a year.'3 Audits are conducted for the purpose of
the tax ethics level. Tax auditing may affect compliance
increasing revenue and inducing voluntary compliance
behavior, but basic attitudes toward tax obligations seem
with the tax laws and are based on the assumption that the
to have no bearing on the auditing experience. Basic
public will be encouraged to comply with the law more
attitudes, of course, are not directly related to actual be-
readily if there is a credible possibility that any particular
havior. 8
return may be audited. Our data have shown that a
person's basic sense of tax ethics is not related to the audit
experience, although people do tend to refrain from corn-
Other Taxpayer Attitudes
miting the forms of tax evasion most easily detectable in
the auditing process.
Taxpayer Knowledge
Among our respondents, a little less than 30 per cent re-
ported that their tax return had been audited at any time in
It is well known that the American public is not in
the past. This relatively high percentage may be due to the
sufficient command of facts about many public issues to
fact that over a lengthy period of time, the chance that a
satisfy the requirements of sophisticated political aware-
taxpayer will be audited is much greater than the 2 per cent
ness. Pollster Louis Harris once made his disappointment
of returns audited annually by the Internal Revenue
in this area very clear when he stated that he "would place
Service would indicate.
20 per cent of the population in the moron category;
One may assume that the process of being audited is, for
another 20 per cent are ignorant and unwilling to learn,
most taxpayers, a disturbing experience occurring in a
some 40 per cent do not know, but are willing to learn pro-
hostile and unfamiliar setting. The audit is essentially an
vided that the lessons are easily digested, which leaves the
adversary process between the auditor and the taxpayer in
enlightened at 20 per cent."9 A national survey in 1965
which feelings of self-interest and suspicion can create an
revealed that 40 per cent of those interviewed were unable
atmosphere of extreme anxiety and unpleasantness, especi-
to name either of their U.S. Senators. '0
ally on the part of the taxpayer. However, eight in ten of
Given their extractive nature and technical complexity,
our respondents whose returns had been audited reported
fiscal and tax-related policies rarely raise public affection
that the encounter in the auditor's office had been ex-
or sustained curiosity. A paucity of public knowledge in
tremely pleasant or pleasant considering the circum-
these areas is thus to be expected. A survey in 1961 re-
stances. Only a small fraction (3.5 per cent) reported that
ported that only about half of the people interviewed knew
the experience was extremely unpleasant. It is uncertain
that federal budget deficits had been incurred, and a sub-
whether these findings are a consequence of superior per-
stantial proportion of those who were aware of the federal
formance by the tax office personnel in the survey area or
deficits were unable to answer a question about the possi-
simply evidence that the conventional wisdom about the
ble effects of deficits on business conditions. I I Taxpayers,
nature of the audit experience is actually unfounded and
furthermore, do not necessarily maintain consistent views
unwarranted.
on tax-related issues. 12
The Congress reacted to the worsening business Bases of Tax Allocation
recession and prolonged high rate of unemployment in
Ever since Adam Smith wrote that "the subjects of every
1974 by granting a tax rebate and reduction in tax rates.
state ought to contribute toward the support of the govern-
We asked the respondents to state the purpose of this
ment, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respec-
policy. Perhaps because of the wide publicity the program
tive abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which
had received and also because every taxpayer had received
they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state,"'4
a check from the federal treasury, a larger percentage of
the proper basis of tax burden distribution has been a con-
our respondents possessed accurate knowledge about the
troversial topic among tax scholars. John Stuart Mill, in a
program than we had anticipated. 58 per cent correctly
challenge to the benefits-received principle of taxation,
stated that its purpose was to pull the economy out of re-
argued, for example, that
cession; an additional 8 per cent stated that it was to help
the poor, which indicates some understanding about the
Government must be regarded as so preeminently a concern of all,
program's design. The remaining 34 per cent gave either a
that to determine who are most interested in it is of no real impor-
wrong answer or admitted ignorance.
tance . . . As, in a case of voluntary subscription for a purpose in
Taxpayer knowledge about the regressivity of tax bur-
which all are interested, all are thought to have done their part
dens is limited, but not as low as pessimists would have fairly when each has contributed according to his means, that is,
guessed. In comparing the federal income tax with the state has made an equal sacrifice for the common object; in like manner
sales tax in terms of their respective regressivity, 45 per should this be the principle of compulsory contributions. . . II
cent accurately responded that the state sales tax hit lower
income people harder than the federal income tax; 25 per M. Slade Kendrick, on the other hand, sharply criticized
cent answered incorrectly by stating that the federal the ability-to-pay principle, contending that "Sacrifice
income tax was more regressive than the state sales tax; the
whether pure or an amalgam is not possible of reduction to
rest, 30 per cent, could not answer. quantitative expression. 6s 16

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 TAX ETHICS AND TAXPAYER
Scholarly arguments aside, what do voters and taxpayers
feel about the way tax burdens should be distributed
among citizens? Apparently for most middle-class
Americans, the idea that individuals should pay taxes in
accordance with their ability to pay is an acceptable basis
of tax-burden allocation. Three in four of our respondents
agreed with the statement that "a person's tax amount
should be determined by his ability to pay rather than the
benefits he receives from the government." Less than one
in five (18.1 per cent) disagreed with the above statement,
thereby indicating a preference for the benefits-received
principle.
What is more disturbing is the fact that
most of the variables that are significantly
related to high tax ethics have shown signs
of deterioration in the last decade or two.
No relationship is found between a favorable attitude
toward the ability-to-pay theory of taxation and such
variables as sex, race, level of education, home-ownership,
marital status, and party affiliation. Several variables
showed some relationship, but they were not strong
enough to be statistically significant. For instance, there is
an indication that those in the very high income group
(earning over $35,000 a year), those who are currently em-
ployed rather than unemployed or retired, those young
people under 30, and those who feel they receive less in
benefits from the government than they pay in taxes tend
to disagree with the ability-to-pay concept more so than
other respondents.
Our data, then, indicate that the principle of ability-to-
pay enjoys wide-spread popular acceptance except among
that small percentage who feel that the principle, and the
progressive tax system flowing from it, hurts them more
than others. The logical extreme of this theory of equal
sacrifice and declining marginal utility is, of course,
complete equalization of wealth. However, the typical
American is not a communist. He or she simply believes
that it is fair that a person who is rich and capable of
bearing the burden should contribute the most to the gov-
ernment, rather than the poor and incapable, regardless of
the governmental benefits they enjoy.
Administrative Efficiency and Fairness
Rightly or wrongly, government bureaucracies have
been criticized, denounced, and castigated for their alleged
inefficiency and wastefulness. A bureaucrat, in popular
image, is a person who specializes in the art of wasting the
taxpayer's time and money and has made a religion of
senseless, red-tape procedures.
The Internal Revenue Service is a huge bureaucracy
which has more than 80,000 employees and sophisticated
computer systems, processes more than 100 million indivi-
dual and corporate tax returns each year, and issues more
than 30,000 rulings. A recent study concluded that the
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1978
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ATTITUDES 449
treatment of American taxpayers by the Internal Revenue
Service frequently is "whimsical, inconsistent, unpredict-
able and highly personal.'7 The House Government
Operations Committee has reported that numerous IRS
internal audits and outside studies on the quality of tele-
phone assistance (24.2 million telephone assistances were
rendered by the IRS in 1974 alone) have yielded an error
rate of 20 per cent or more in IRS responses to tax
questions and an error rate of between 70 and 87 percent in
preparing returns. Even an IRS spokesman conceded that
"nobody is happy with an error rate at such a level." '8
We asked our respondents to rate the administrative
efficiency of the Internal Revenue Service. To our surprise,
most of our respondents (60 per cent) rated the IRS as
fairly or highly efficient; only 12 per cent judged the IRS
inefficient; the remaining 28 per cent answered "don't
know. "
The relatively high confidence and favorable opinion
which the IRS enjoys with the public is an asset the agency
would not want to tarnish. Revelations about abuse of
power by the IRS in relation to the Watergate and other
scandals may have had an adverse effect on the public's es-
timation of IRS efficiency and integrity, but this survey
was conducted before such revelations were fully brought
to the public's attention.
Because of either imperfections in the laws or admini-
strative fallibility, or both, the ideal of equality under the
law guaranteed in the United States Constitution is not
necessarily materialized in the real world. The Admini-
strative Conference has reported that IRS enforcement is
erratic and different taxpayers in different places receive
varying treatment in various phases of the tax law
enforcement process.'9 In 1971, for example, the IRS
district office in Cincinnati collected only 19 per cent of its
initial delinquent tax claims, while the district office in
Newark collected 88 per cent of its initial claims. In view of
this, we asked our respondents, "Do you feel you pay
more, about the same, or a less amount of taxes to the gov-
ernment compared with others who make about the same
amount of money as you do?"
As with the public's evaluation of the administrative ef-
ficiency of tax officials, a comfortable majority (63 per
cent) expressed the view that they pay about the same
amount of tax as other persons in similar circumstances.
About one in five (19.6 per cent) said that they pay more.
Few frankly admitted they paid less (2.4 per cent).
Those who feel their tax burden is inequitably higher
than that of others tend to be middle-aged, working,
better-educated, white males who own their homes and
have a relatively high level of income. They feel that they
receive less benefits from the government than they pay in
taxes. They also feel that tax administration is inefficient,
and they usually prepare their own tax returns themselves
or in cooperation with their spouses, or let tax accountants
prepare them, rather than leaving the task to tax officials
or not filing a return at all.
Various Taxes
Since Adam Smith listed the ability-to-pay principle at
the top of his so-called canons of taxation, scholars have
 450 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW

Table 8. combine percentages for the first choice and second choice,
Administrative Efficiency of Tax Collection a different order emerges. The state sales tax is still on top
(63.3 per cent), followed by the state income tax (53.1 per
Question: What is your opinion about the efficiency of cent). The local property tax, which is believed by most tax
tax collecting agencies? specialists to be the least equitable tax in theory as well as
in practice, is third, chosen by 47.7 per cent. Ironically, the
Highly Efficient 13.807o federal income tax, regarded by tax specialists as the most
Fairly Efficient 45.7 equitable tax, was considered the least fair tax by 40.4 per
Not Efficient 8.5 cent of our respondents. These findings, of course, may
Extremely Inefficient 3.5 be unique to the survey area, but they do suggest increasing
public disenchantment with the federal income tax.
Don't Know 28.4
99.9070*
Federal Income Tax

*Due to rounding. What are the defects of the federal income tax that
bother taxpayers most? We asked the respondents to
compare and rank each of the five commonly discussed
shortcomings of the income tax. They are: (1) the tax rate
discussed at length the isexact
too high, (2)concept
there are too many and structur
loopholes, (3) the
equitable tax. Whether the essence
regulations of
are too complicated an equitable
to understand, (4) the
in a reasonable classification, tax
middle-class bears neutrality
the biggest or adm
burden, and (5) it penalizes
tive efficiency, a tax must
the honestbe perceived and accepte
and law-abiding.
taxpayers as a fair tax if an
The most acceptable
serious problem with the income tax
tax, in system
the
constructed and taxpayer minds resistance
of the taxpayers surveyed,isis itsto be
tendency reduce
to impose
minimum. the heaviest tax burdens on the middle-class. Forty-six and
Most of the surveys conducted from
two-tenths of the respondents pointed to the
this factor1930's
as the
present have disclosed that
most serious people consider
defect in the income the
tax. Given the nature of in
income tax to be the fairest taxin of
income distribution all,
the United but
States, that at
a broad-based
time, preference for an productive
indirect tax is bound tax has
to tap most steadily
of its revenue from the gr
the decades.20 A public opinion
middle-income survey
group. That conducte
fact alone, however, does not
Advisory Commission dispel ontheIntergovernmental
feeling of middle-class taxpayers that the groups Rel
1972, for instance, showed that
on the extremes of thethe federal
income ladder income
are largely escaping
chosen as the nation's fairest their fair share oftaxthe taxby burden.36 per cent,
The middle-class
state sales tax a close second, taxpayer resents aby 33which,
tax system per in hiscent.
view, hardly The
income tax was the third touches choice,
the poor, whom heby 11 lazy
may consider per cent,
and unde-
property tax the last, by serving 7 per consideration
of charitable cent. by The same su
the "productive"
showed that the state sales elements of tax was
society. He most
also resents a system inpreferr
which, he
per cent) as a method of raising additional revenue, suspects, the rich largely or completely escape their tax
followed by the state income tax (by 25 per cent). 2' obligations through regular and ingenious use of tax
We asked our respondents to rank four major taxes inloopholes.
order of their fairness. (See Table 9.) The state sales tax, The nature of taxpayer concern about the income tax is
without question, was the taxpayer's first choice; 46.0 per clearly reflected in the survey results. As Table 10 shows,
cent ranked it first in terms of fairness. The local property
concern that the federal income tax has "too many loop-
tax and the federal income tax were viewed as fairest byholes" was judged the most serious problem by 24.7 per
about one in five respondents. The state income tax wascent of our respondents; 23.6 per cent ranked it as the
the last on the list, chosen by 17.6 per cent. However, if we
second most serious problem. The message to the govern-

Table 9.

Ranking Four Taxes in Terms of Fairness

Question: Please compare and rank the fairness of the following four taxes.

First Second Third Fourth

Choice Choice Choice Choice
State Sales Tax 46.0 0o 17.3 0o 14.1 07o 22.607o
StateIncomeTax 17.6 35.5 34.5 12.7
Local Property Tax 21.6 26.1 23.3 29.0
Federal Income Tax 20.4 20.0 26.5 33.1

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 TAX ETHICS AND TAXPAYER ATTITUDES 451

ment leaders is plain: federal tax reform in the direction of of taxpayers have a negative level of tax ethics. We
plugging loopholes which only the privileged few with a consider this overall level of tax ethics "barely passing."
large income-and not the vast majority of salaried Tax ethics at this level should be taken as symptomatic of a
middle-class Americans-can take advantage of should be disease seriously threatening the moral fiber of society and
the first item on their tax agenda. Failure to move in this the viability of the democratic system. What is more
direction may lead to a continued deterioration in public disturbing is the fact that most of the variables that are sig-
support of the tax form that provides over sixty per cent of nificantly related to high tax ethics have shown signs of
federal revenue. As one columnist recently observed: deterioration in the last decade or two. Gallup polls show
that general public morality has been declining since the
Every loophole, every inconsistency, every example of a non-tax-
1940's. Harris polls show that percentages for sense of
paying millionaire encourages the once dutiful American to be a
powerlessness, cynicism, and alienation have been steadily
tax cheat. The tax law, with its high rates and its countless subter-
fuges for avoiding them, has become the greatest corruptor of the climbing since 1966.23 Abravenal and Bunch, using Survey
citizenry, encouraging the spreading sentiment that it's better to Research Center data, concluded that there was a longterm
lie, trim, and pad than to be a sucker and a pauper.22 decline in the general public's political trust from 1958-
1972.24 Political trust, in the words of David Easton, is a
The income tax rate undoubtedly is a lot higher than
kind of "diffuse support which forms a reservoir of favor-
what most taxpayers would like it to be, but only 20.8 per
able attitudes or good will that helps members to accept or
cent chose rate as the most serious problem of the income
tolerate outputs to which they are opposed or the effect of
tax. People, after all, gradually get accustomed to a level
which they see as damaging to their wants."25 The loss of
of taxes which, when first imposed, seemed "too high."
trust leads to the loss of system power26 and, when
We suspected that the complexity of income tax laws
combined with a low level of efficacy, leads to an unstable
would frustrate taxpayers seriously. The tax laws are so
political system.27 With the tax burden ever-increasing
terribly complicated and instruction in the forms so incom-
without the tax laws getting any simpler or fairer, a further
prehensible that about 35 million taxpayers annually call,
deterioration in the sense of tax ethics may be an assured
write or walk into IRS offices for clarification or advice.
trend in the future unless steps are taken to arrest this
However, our survey shows that tax complexity, in com-
downward movement.
parison with the other problems mentioned above, is only
If the findings of this survey are any indication of na-
a minor concern for most of the taxpayers; only 13.1 per
tional trends, however, most Americans still have faith in
cent mentioned it as the most serious problem and 34.6 per
the administrative efficiency of tax agencies; most feel that
cent said it was the least serious problem among the five
people should pay taxes according to their ability; most
defects mentioned above.
feel that they pay about the same amount of tax as others
Lastly, only a small portion of the respondents (5.1 per
in similar situations; and most feel they get just about the
cent) felt that honest, law-abiding taxpayers are penalized
same amount of benefit from government as they pay in
under the income tax system. As mentioned earlier, most
taxes. Taxpayers also may be less ignorant about fiscal and
taxpayers have a healthy respect for IRS efficiency. The
tax matters than might have been assumed.
taxpayer complaint is not that too many cheat the
Even so, taxpayer dissatisfaction with the federal
government and get away with it but that the government
income tax has increased to the point that it is viewed by a
provides unequal opportunities to different income groups
majority of taxpayers as the least fair tax. Even though
for reducing the tax burden.
generally aware of the regressivity of the state sales tax,
taxpayers think the sales tax is a desirable alternative to the
CONCLUSION federal income tax. In the wake of the spectacular celebra-
tion of the two-hundredth birthday of this nation, it should
An acceptable level of tax ethics is a matter of subjective
not be forgotten that a tax system not reflective of the
judgment. According to our measurement, the average tax-
desires of the people is essentially no different from a
payer's tax ethics is 60.3 on a scale of 100 and 21 system
per centof "taxation without representation."

Table 10.
The Most Serious Defect of the Federal Income Tax

Question: Please compare and rank the seriousness of the following federal income tax problems.

First Second Third Fourth Fifth

Middle Class Bears Burden 46.2?70 23.1% 16.5?70 10.5?70 3.5?70
TooManyLoopholes 24.7 23.6 18.9 20.5 12.4
Tax Rateis Too High 20.8 21.6 18.8 22.0 16.9
Too Complicated to Understand 13.1 17.3 16.5 18.5 34.6
The Honest Penalized 5.1 19.3 24.8 23.2 27.6

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 452 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Notes
1. News & Views (published by the American Society for Public
Administration), XXV, No. 10 (October, 1975), p. 1.
2. United States v. Kahriger, 345 U.S. 22, 36 (1953) (concurring
opinion).
3. Formula for Index 1 is:
Index 1 = (Var 1 + Var 2 + Var 3 + Var 4 + Var 5 +
Var 6) *. 24 x 100
Formula for Index 2 is:
Index 2 = FSC1 x (Var 1 - XI) + SCI
+ FSC2 x (Var 2 - X2) + SC2
+ FSC3 x (Var 3 - X3) + SC3
+ FSC4 x (Var 4 - X4) . SC4
+ FSC5 x (Var 5 - X5) + SC5
+ FSC6 x (Var 6 - X6) + SC6
16. "The Ability to Pay Theory of Taxation," American
Where FSC 1 is the factor score coefficient for Var 1, XI
is mean for Var 1 and SD1 is standard deviation for Var
1.
If we substitute figures from our data,
Index 2 = 0.09069 x (Var 1 - 4.2135) . 0.9234
+ 0.10860 x (Var 2 - 3.1835) * 1.1438
+ 0.12447 x (Var 3 - 2.7341) . 1.0657
+ 0.08701 x (Var 4 - 2.8989) + 1.1638
+0.27993 x (Var 5 - 3.9363) . 0.9615
+ 0.50935 x (Var 6 - 3.5356) + 1.1737
4. President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Admini-
stration of Justice, The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society
(Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office,
1967), Part V, p. 1.
5. Quoted in Harrell R. Rodgers, Jr. and George Taylor, "Pre-
adult Attitudes toward Legal Compliance: Notes toward a
Theory," Dan Nimmo and Charles Bonjean (eds.), Political
Attitudes and Public Opinion (New York: David McKay,
1972), p. 218.
6. Ibid.
7. Lester Milbrath, Political Participation (Chicago: Rand Mc-
Nally, 1965), p. 81. Also, Richard L. Cole, "Toward a
Model of Political Trust: A Causal Analysis," American
Journal of Political Science, XVII (November, 1973), pp.
809-817.
8. Howard J. Ehrlich, "Attitudes, Behavior, and the Interven-
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REVIEW
ing Variable," Nimmo and Bonjean, op. cit., pp. 495-497.
Also, John Barnsley, The Social Reality of Ethics: The Com-
parative Analysis of Moral Codes (London: Routledge &
Kegan Paul, 1972), pp. 115-144.
9. Lester Markel, What You Don't Know Can Hurt You: A
Study of Public Opinion and Public Emotion (Washington,
D.C.: Public Affairs Press, 1972), p. 32.
10. Ibid., p.31.
11. E. Mueller, "Public Attitudes toward Fiscal Programs,"
Quarterly Journal of Economics, LXXVII (May, 1963), p.
217.
12. Ibid., p. 228.
13. Administrative Conference of the United States, Report to
the Congress, (Washington, D.C., 1976), S1, p. 4.
14. Wealth of Nations, Book V, Chapter 2.
15. Principles of Political Economy, Book V, Chapter 2, Section
2-4.
Economic Review, XXIX, No. 1 (March, 1939), p. 99.
17. Quoted in News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), November 7,
1975, p. 1.
18. Ibid.
19. Administrative Conference, op. cit.
20. Shlomo Maital, "Preferences, Tax Structure and Tax Re-
form: Theory and Evidence," Public Finance Quarterly, III,
No. 1 (January, 1975), pp. 62-65.
21. Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations,
Public Opinion and Taxes (Washington, D.C., 1972), pp. 7-
12.
22. Jack Anderson and Les Whitten, News & Observer (Raleigh,
N.C.), April 3, 1975, p. 4.
23. Confidence and Concern: Citizens View American Govern-
ment, Hearing before the Subcommittee on Intergovern-
mental Relations of the Committee on Government Opera-
tions, United States Senate, 93rd Cong., December 3, 1973.
24. Martin Abravenal and Ronald Bunch, "Political Compe-
tence, Political Trust and the Election Orientation of
University Students," Journal of Politics, XXXVII
(February, 1975), p. 70.
25. David Easton, A Systems Analysis of Political Life (New York:
John Wiley & Sons, 1965), p. 273.
26. William A. Gamson, "Political Trust and its Ramifica-
tions," Gilbert Abcarian and John W. Soule (eds.), Social
Psychology and Political Behavior: Problems and Prospects
(Columbus, Ohio: Charles Merrill, 1971), p. 45.
27. In Nimmo and Bonjean, op. cit., p. 52.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1978