An examination of taxpayers' attitudes towards the Australian tax system: Findings from a survey of tax scheme investors
Collections | ANU Centre for Tax System Integrity (CTSI) |
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Title: | An examination of taxpayers' attitudes towards the Australian tax system: Findings from a survey of tax scheme investors |
Author(s): | Murphy, Kristina Australian National University. Centre for Tax System Integrity Australian Taxation Office |
Publisher: | Centre for Tax System Integrity (CTSI), Research School of Social Sciences, The Australian National University Australian Taxation Office |
Series/Report no.: | Working paper (Centre for Tax System Integrity) ; no. 46 |
Description: | During the 1990s, the number of Australian taxpayers involved in aggressive tax
planning more than doubled. This aggressive form of financial planning poses a
serious threat to the integrity of Australia’s tax system. In order to deal with the
problem, the Australian Taxation Office (Tax Office) announced in 1998 that they
would be implementing a number of initiatives aimed at combating aggressive tax
planning. Part of the Tax Office’s crackdown on aggressive tax planning involved
issuing amended assessments to the 42 000 Australians who invested in mass
marketed tax schemes. The majority of scheme investors, however, resisted the Tax
Office’s attempts to recover scheme related tax debts. This paper discusses the
findings of an empirical study that shows that the widespread resistance exhibited by
scheme investors was due partly to the manner in which the Tax Office dealt with the
schemes issue. Using survey data collected from 2301 tax scheme investors, and 2040
taxpayers from the general population, it will be shown that those who invested in tax
schemes are more disillusioned with the tax system, are more hostile and resistant
towards the Tax Office, and are more likely to resent paying tax as a result.
Suggestions for the way regulatory authorities such as the Tax Office should deal with
non-compliers, and possible solutions for how tax authorities might deal with the
increasing problem of aggressive tax planning, will be discussed. |
URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/1885/154853 |
ISBN: | 0 642 76857 9 |
ISSN: | 1444-8211 |
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