The Tax-Free
Autor: leejessamyn • September 11, 2013 • Research Paper • 662 Words (3 Pages) • 997 Views
As expected, participants prefer the tax-free bond over the taxed bond. Also, most participants that view Australian tax as “too high” and “about right” chose the tax-free bond. This result supports the findings of Sussman and Olivola (2011), where people are more willing to pay tax-unrelated costs than pay tax, which may hold an equal or larger amount of monetary value. The results also provide support for the hypothesis made where most participants who view Australian tax as “too high” selected the tax-free bond. On the other hand, most participants who view Australian tax as “about right” also selected the tax-free bond, indicating that although individuals are comfortable with the amount of tax they are obliged to pay, their views on the idea of tax is still considerably negative. As seen in the results, although the difference in political parties do not play a significant role in the participants‘ tax preference, the general idea of trust and approval of the government towards tax preferences is also worth looking into. As individuals are continuously paying tax annually, it may evoke the idea of giving out money with no immediate or evident return. This may be considered a main reason why taxpayers feel financially burdened and are motivated to avoid and evade tax payment. The role of fairness is therefore a valid explanation towards tax compliance. According to Verboon & Goslinga (2009), the perception of fairness comes from individuals‘ personal norms, their moral ethics and values. If individuals see taxpaying as a moral obligation and a positive contribution to the society, they will willingly pay tax despite social influences on tax evasion. A study conducted by Wenzel (2004) also supports that personal standards is a better indicator of tax compliance than social ideologies. Therefore, as shown in the results, some participants may still choose the taxed bond even if they view tax as “too high”. Although results on tax preference in relation to political affiliation is not
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