A survey of law, business and philosophy students in China on the ethics of tax evasion

Abstract

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to learn the views of law, business and philosophy students in China on the ethics of tax evasion.Design/methodology/approachThis paper begins with a review of the literature and identifies the main issues and summarizes the three main viewpoints that have emerged over the centuries. It then reports on the results of a survey of Chinese law, business and philosophy students who were asked their opinions on the ethics of tax evasion. The survey consisted of 15 statements, representing the 15 issues and three viewpoints that have emerged over the centuries. Participants were asked to signify the extent of their agreement with each statement by placing a number from 1 to 7 in the space provided. About 256 usable responses were received. The data were then analyzed to determine which of the three viewpoints was dominant among the sample population. The three groups were compared to determine whether their responses were different. Male scores were also compared to female scores to determine if the responses differed by gender.FindingsThere was widespread approval for tax evasion on ethical grounds, although some arguments to support tax evasion were stronger than others. Males and females were equally opposed to tax evasion. Business and economics students were more favorably disposed to tax evasion than were law and philosophy students.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample was limited to students in just three majors in one Chinese city. Sampling students in other majors and in other Chinese cities might have yielded different results. Sampling Chinese business people, Chinese lawyers and accountants might have also yielded different results. No comparison based on age was made because the sample consisted of people from the same age group. Choosing a sample consisting of different ages might have revealed differences in opinion based on age.Practical implicationsIf the government of China wants to reduce the extent of tax evasion, the first step is to determine why people evade taxes. The second step is to take measures to remove the reasons why people evade taxes. The present study ranks the reasons why people think tax evasion is morally acceptable. Corruption, waste and unfairness were the three strongest reasons for justifying tax evasion. Thus, three things government can do to reduce the extent of tax evasion is to become less corrupt, less wasteful and less unfair. This study has widespread implications for other countries, since the same arguments have been used in the literature for the past 500 years to justify tax evasion. The findings for China might be applied to any number of other countries.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to rank the reasons that have traditionally been given to justify tax evasion for a city in central China and it is one of only a few to rank reasons justifying tax evasion for any country.