A Paradigmatic Model of Tax Culture among Taxpayers in the City of Isfahan (Qualitative Research in Economic Sociology)

Abstract

This qualitative study aimed to discover the meaning system of taxpayers and their interpretation of the phenomenon of taxation, and to present a grounded model of tax culture in the context of study. The grounded theory, which is one of the main qualitative methods of research, was used in this study. The required data were collected through in-depth interviews with 30 taxpayers in Isfahan. The sample was selected through purposive - theoretical sampling. Open, axial, and selective coding and Paradigm analytical tool were used to analyze the collected data. Next, the data were coded into main categories and one core category. The proposed paradigmatic model consisted of three dimensions, i.e., conditions, actions-interactions, and consequences. According to the results, the first dimension, conditions, comprising Causal-contextual conditions (rent-seeking economy, tax systemization, transparency of tax laws, tax authoritarianism(, Contextual conditions (psychological cost of compliance, procedural fairness of tax, divergent interaction and mutual trust between actors), and interventional conditions (tax justice, economic health of authorities, tax accountability and tax expenditure efficiency), in the dimension action-interaction (tax as a common interest, taxes as duty and Force-based compliance) and in the dimension of consequences (taxpayers’ dissatisfaction, non-transparency of economic activity, strengthening the shadow economy) that have been formed around a core category called Non-normative unbalanced claiming.