The Relationship Between Political Ideology and Attitudes Toward Tax Compliance: The Case of Italian Taxpayers

Research on tax behaviour or attitudes towards tax evasion has rarely taken into account the political preferences of taxpayers. The present research aimed to explore the relationship between political ideology and attitudes toward tax compliance within the “slippery slope framework” (Kirchler, Hoelzl, & Wahl, 2008). We conducted a quantitative survey (N = 272) and two online focus groups with self-employed taxpayers in Italy, and found significant differences between left-leaning and right-leaning taxpayers. These two groups were characterized by two different pathways that lead to greater tax compliance, and attached different meanings and values to tax behaviours. In particular, left-leaning taxpayers expressed higher levels of voluntary cooperation and showed reactance to the coercive power of authorities, whereas right-leaning taxpayers expressed higher levels of enforced tax compliance and were more averse to tax evasion with increased trust in authorities and institutions. Although further research on this topic is advisable, these results bear relevant theoretical and practical implications.

[1]  Barbara M. Byrne,et al.  Structural equation modeling with AMOS , 2010 .

[2]  E. Kirchler,et al.  Trust in Authorities and Power to Enforce Tax Compliance: An Empirical Analysis of the 'Slippery Slope Framework' , 2010 .

[3]  E. Kirchler.  The Economic Psychology of Tax Behaviour , 2007 .

[4]  Mark Lubell,et al.  Trust and Taxpaying: Testing the Heuristic Approach to Collective Action , 1998 .

[5]  E. Kirchler,et al.  Tax compliance inventory TAX-I: Designing an inventory for surveys of tax compliance , 2010 .

[6]  M. Lührmann.  Consumer Expenditures and Home Production at Retirement - New Evidence from Germany , 2010 .

[7]  G. Graffigna,et al.  Towards a "theory of technique" for online focus groups. , 2007 .

[8]  Trust breeds trust: How taxpayers are treated , 2002 .

[9]  J. Graham,et al.  When Morality Opposes Justice: Conservatives Have Moral Intuitions that Liberals may not Recognize , 2007 .

[10]  Tom R. Tyler,et al.  Trust within organisations , 2003 .

[11]  J. Morse,et al.  Verification Strategies for Establishing Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research , 2002 .

[12]  E. Kirchler,et al.  Powerful authorities and trusting citizens: The Slippery Slope Framework and tax compliance in Italy , 2013 .

[13]  Lars P. Feld,et al.  Tax Compliance as the Result of a Psychological Tax Contract: The Role of Incentives and Responsive Regulation , 2006 .

[14]  G. Graffigna.  Interpersonal exchanges about HIV/AIDS trough different media: a cross-cultural comparison. , 2009 .

[15]  Benno Torgler,et al.  Tax Morale, Rule-Governed Behaviour and Trust , 2003 .

[16]  E. Kirchler,et al.  The Dynamics of Power and Trust in the 'Slippery Slope Framework' and its Impact on the Tax Climate , 2012 .

[17]  G. Graffigna.  Interpersonal Exchanges about HIV-AIDS through Different Media , 2007 .

[18]  V. Braithwaite.  Dancing with Tax Authorities: Motivational Postures and Non-Compliant Actions , 2003 .

[19]  Luigi Mittone,et al.  Sequences of audits, tax compliance, and taxpaying strategies , 2009 .

[20]  Lars P. Feld,et al.  Survey on the Shadow Economy and Undeclared Earnings in OECD Countries , 2010 .

[21]  J. Jost,et al.  Political conservatism as motivated social cognition. , 2003, Psychological bulletin.

[22]  B. Byrne.  Structural equation modeling with EQS : basic concepts, applications, and programming , 2000 .

[23]  Erich Kirchler,et al.  Voluntary versus enforced tax compliance: empirical evidence for the “slippery slope” framework , 2011 .

[24]  A. Lewis.  Attitudes to Public Expenditure and Their Relationship to Voting Preferences , 1980 .

[25]  James L. Arbuckle,et al.  Amos User''s Guide , 1995 .

[26]  G. Graffigna,et al.  The Influence of Setting on Findings Produced in Qualitative Health Research: A Comparison between Face-to-Face and Online Discussion Groups about HIV/AIDS , 2006 .

[27]  Progressive Taxation, Fairness, and Compliance* , 1994 .

[28]  David Dreyer Lassen,et al.  Transparency, Political Polarization, and Political Budget Cycles in OECD Countries , 2006 .

[29]  Christoph Kogler,et al.  Trust and power as determinants of tax compliance: Testing the assumptions of the slippery slope framework in Austria, Hungary, Romania and Russia , 2013 .

[30]  Erich Kirchler,et al.  Enforced versus voluntary tax compliance: The "slippery slope" framework , 2008 .

[31]  F. Schneider,et al.  Attitudes Towards Paying Taxes in Austria: An Empirical Analysis , 2005 .

[32]  T. Tyler,et al.  Self-Interest vs. Symbolic Politics in Policy Attitudes and Presidential Voting , 1980, American Political Science Review.

[33]  EvansGeoffrey,et al.  The Political Conditioning of Economic Perceptions , 2015 .

[34]  John W. Creswell,et al.  Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches , 2010 .

[35]  Ian Budge,et al.  Party identification and beyond: Representations of voting and party competition , 1976 .

[36]  G. Caprara,et al.  Basic Personal Values, Core Political Values, and Voting: A Longitudinal Analysis , 2010 .

[37]  J. Turner.  Explaining the nature of power: a three-process theory , 2005 .

[38]  Tax Compliance: Social Norms, Culture and Endogeneity , 2007 .

[39]  John R. McGowan.  The Effect of Political Affiliation on Taxpayers' Attitudes Toward Alternative Tax Systems , 2000 .

[40]  Erich Kirchler,et al.  Why Pay Taxes? A Review of Tax Compliance Decisions , 2007 .

[41]  T. Rudolph.  Political Trust, Ideology, and Public Support for Tax Cuts , 2009 .

[42]  Monique Hennink,et al.  Language and Communication in Cross-Cultural Qualitative Research , 2008 .

[43]  R. Wahlund.  Tax changes and economic behavior : the case of tax evasion , 1992 .

[44]  T. Tyler,et al.  Psychological perspectives on legitimacy and legitimation. , 2006, Annual review of psychology.

[45]  JMR: Journal of Marketing Research , 1969 .

[46]  Erich Kirchler,et al.  Tax Compliance by Trust and Power of Authorities , 2010 .

[47]  S. Ng,et al.  Self-Interest, Economic Beliefs, and Political Party Preference in New Zealand , 2000 .

[48]  John Hite.  The Effects of Attribute Framing and Political Party Affiliation on Taxpayer Preferences , 2004 .

[49]  Elke U. Weber,et al.  A Dirty Word or a Dirty World? , 2010, Psychological science.

[50]  B. Byrne,et al.  Testing for the equivalence of factor covariance and mean structures: The issue of partial measurement invariance. , 1989 .

[51]  J. R. French,et al.  The bases of social power. , 1959 .

[52]  R. Edwards,et al.  Interpreters/Translators and Cross-Language Research: Reflexivity and Border Crossings , 2002 .

[53]  Abigail B. Sussman,et al.  Axe the Tax: Taxes are Disliked More than Equivalent Costs , 2011 .

[54]  Paul M. Kellstedt,et al.  The political (and economic) origins of consumer confidence , 2004 .

[55]  D. Silverman.  Interpreting Qualitative Data: Methods for Analysing Talk, Text and Interaction , 1994 .

[56]  Joakim Öhlén,et al.  Mixed Method Design : Principles and Procedures , 2011 .

[57]  B. Raven,et al.  Conceptualizing and Measuring a Power/Interaction Model of Interpersonal Influence1 , 1998 .

[58]  E. Vieira,et al.  The Evocative Power of Projective Techniques for the Elicitation of Meaning , 2011 .

[59]  E. Lozza,et al.  Perceptions and outcomes of a fiscal bonus: framing effects on evaluations and usage intentions. , 2010 .

[60]  G. Richardson.  The relationship between culture and tax evasion across countries: Additional evidence and extensions , 2008 .

[61]  S. Gilardi,et al.  Inquiry-Based Learning and Undergraduates’ Professional Identity Development: Assessment of a Field Research-Based Course , 2009 .