Taxation, Religion, and Morality

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 August 2020) | Viewed by 7587

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Fayetteville State University, Fayetteville, NC 28301, USA
Interests: taxation; ethics; international trade; public policy; accounting; philosophy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Religions is publishing a Special Issue on the interrelated topics of religion, taxation, and morality. The focus of this Special Issue is to examine taxation from a religious and/or moral perspective. The scope is very broad and may include any topic mentioned in the Summary, as well as other related topics. The purpose of this Special Issue is to expand the moral and religious literature on the subject of taxation. The vast majority of articles and books that have been published on taxation focus on the technical, economic or legal aspects of taxation and tax evasion. This Special Issue aims to go beyond these narrowly focused approaches and open up the discussion to include religious and moral aspects of the subject. It will supplement and expand on the existing literature. 

Topics might include but will not be limited to the following: the ethics of taxation; the ethics of tax evasion; the ethics of tax avoidance; religious and/or ethical aspects of redistribution; religious and/or ethical aspects of the graduated income tax; the ethics of income tax, sales tax, value added tax, property tax, inheritance tax, death tax, excise taxes, the Social Security tax; the fair share argument; taxation/tax evasion in the literature of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Religion X (insert religion here); under what circumstances might tax evasion be justified on moral or religious grounds? moral uses of tax funds; is it ethical to tax individuals to fund abortion? The education of other people’s children? Health care? How serious is tax evasion compared to other crimes? Should individuals be forced to pay for government services they do not want? Should individuals be forced to contribute to Social Security? Should individuals be exempted from paying a tax if they agree not to accept the related government benefits (Social Security, health care, education, etc.)? Should the tax system be structured to affect behavior (i.e., sin taxes, such as high taxes on tobacco and alcohol)? Should corporations be taxed, given the fact that they cannot vote? Should individuals who receive government benefits be permitted to vote? Should individuals who do not pay taxes be permitted to vote? Should individuals be forced to pay an exit tax if they want to give up their citizenship and leave the country?

Prof. Robert W. McGee
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • taxation
  • tax evasion
  • tax avoidance
  • ethics
  • morality
  • religion

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 277 KiB  
Article
Is the Board of Directors’ Religion Related to Tax Avoidance? Empirical Evidence in South Korea
by Hyeong Tae Cho and Sung Man Yoon
Religions 2020, 11(10), 526; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11100526 - 13 Oct 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2664
Abstract
This study investigates the effect of directors’ religious diversity on tax avoidance of firms. The board of directors plays an important role in supervising the management of the corporation. As such, the religious diversity of the board may affect corporate decisions and their [...] Read more.
This study investigates the effect of directors’ religious diversity on tax avoidance of firms. The board of directors plays an important role in supervising the management of the corporation. As such, the religious diversity of the board may affect corporate decisions and their implementation by the management. In this regard, this study analyzes the effect of the religious diversity of the directors on the level of tax avoidance. Results are presented as follows. First, the level of tax avoidance tends to be higher when the level of religious diversity among the board members is high. Second, tax avoidance level may be different depending on a CEO’s religion, holding that the religions of board members are diverse. Third, the tax avoidance activity of a corporation is likely to be discouraged if the religions of board members are converged into a single religion. Overall, the results of this study provide an implication that religious factors influence the level of the firm’s tax avoidance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Taxation, Religion, and Morality)
12 pages, 354 KiB  
Article
Does Religiosity Affect Attitudes toward the Ethics of Tax Evasion? The Case of Turkey
by Robert W. McGee, Serkan Benk, Bahadır Yüzbaşı and Tamer Budak
Religions 2020, 11(9), 476; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11090476 - 18 Sep 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3707
Abstract
This study surveys the opinion of a wide segment of Turkish society on the ethics of tax evasion. The survey instrument includes 18 statements used to justify tax evasion in the past. The research also finds that some reasons to justify tax evasion [...] Read more.
This study surveys the opinion of a wide segment of Turkish society on the ethics of tax evasion. The survey instrument includes 18 statements used to justify tax evasion in the past. The research also finds that some reasons to justify tax evasion proved more attractive to participants than others. In our survey, the strongest support for tax evasion was in cases where the government abused human rights, where the government was corrupt or wasted tax funds, or where the taxpayer did not benefit from the tax expenditures. Conversely, the weakest arguments were in cases where the taxpayer did benefit from the tax expenditures or where the tax funds were spent wisely. What separates this study from others on the ethics of tax evasion is that it addresses interpersonal and intrapersonal religiosity. Its finding confirms the existence of an important relationship between both interpersonal and intrapersonal religiosity and the view toward the ethics of tax evasion. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Taxation, Religion, and Morality)
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