Developing a Reliable and Valid Instrument Measuring Tax Compliance and Noncompliance

• In Event: Issues in Accounting I

Abstract

When researchers discuss taxes, there appear to be four overarching and interrelated constructs in the literature stream: tax compliance, tax avoidance, tax noncompliance, and tax evasion. It is well documented that these constructs are fraught with complexities. Often, researchers will unintentionally confound the constructs and regrettably, few are immune to the phenomena. The objective of this working paper is to deconstruct these constructs, present a new working model of tax compliance-noncompliance, and develop a new multidimensional tax measurement instrument with an explicit coding scheme that considers the determinants of those measures, which will exhibit greater sensitivity to the distinct theoretically differences between tax compliance and related constructs.

Authors

• Joseph Foy, SUNY Old Westbury

• Vijay Sampath, CUNY