The quiet Portuguese: Are Portuguese taxpayers victims of fiscal illusion?

Abstract

EnglishThis article discusses the four dimensions generating fiscal illusion through a survey answered by a sample of the population of the northern region of Portugal. These dimensions were (1) bias in the taxpayers' perception of the costs and benefits of public programs; (2) ignorance or inattention to fiscal reality (e.g. tax structure or associated collection); (3) taking advantage of the taxpayer's timing and expectations for an optimized tax collection; and (4) association of the surrounding socioeconomic reality with the tax structure. The results show that the most serious dimension present among the analyzed Portuguese taxpayers is the relative lack of attention to fiscal reality. Through an analysis using appropriate tests, it was observed that some dimensions, such as education and taxpayer income, significantly influence the individual risk of fiscal illusion. galegoEste artigo analiza as catro dimensions que xeran ilusion fiscal a traves dunha enquisa respondida por unha mostra da poboacion da rexion norte de Portugal. As dimensions enquisadas foron: (1) nesgo na percepcion dos contribuintes dos custos e beneficios dos programas publicos; (2) ignorancia ou falta de atencion sobre a realidade fiscal (como sobre a estrutura tributaria ou a recadacion asociada); (3) aproveitar o calendario e as expectativas do contribuinte para unha recadacion de impostos optimizada; e (4) asociacion da realidade socioeconomica circundante coa estrutura fiscal. Os resultados mostran que a dimension mais grave presente entre os contribuintes portugueses analizados e a relativa falta de atencion a realidade fiscal. A traves dunha analise utilizando probas apropiadas, observouse que algunhas dimensions, como a educacion e os ingresos dos contribuintes, influen significativamente no risco individual de ilusion fiscal.