Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/310788 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Citation: 
[Journal:] Journal of Accounting and Management Information Systems (JAMIS) [ISSN:] 2559-6004 [Volume:] 19 [Issue:] 4 [Year:] 2020 [Pages:] 734-758
Publisher: 
Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest
Abstract: 
Research Question: This paper analyses the role and ethics of tax professionals in the collection of public revenue from business activity during a period of economic crisis in Greece. Motivation - We attempt to analyse the respective influences of a corporate environment and personal beliefs on tax professionals' ethics as well as the consequences of economic crisis. Idea: The paper employs a modified experimental questionnaire from Bobek & Radtke (2007) for the US. This questionnaire is adapted for Greece during a period of economic crisis. Data - Addressees of the questionnaire were tax professionals of two categories: certified public accountants and accountant/tax consultants, both of which are responsible for determining the amount of taxes owed to the Greek Independent Public Revenue Authority (IPRA). Tools - Results were reached by submitting the results of a questionnaire to a multiple-correspondence analysis based on the Burt matrix. As the size of the sample is rather small, in order to avoid any bias the study employs a resampling procedure based on the k fold validation method. Findings - The results of the survey showed that the main causes of ethical dilemmas are problems with clients such as pressure from clients, client-retention concerns and misunderstandings with clients. The major factor contributing to the resolution of an ethical dilemma is the experience of the tax professional. A significant percentage of respondents believed that their level of morality had increased during the period of economic crisis, making them more compliant with relevant tax rules. Contribution - This study contributes to business ethics and helps reinforce them, thereby contributing to the increase in the public revenues, which can help a economy to emerge faster from an economic crisis. Also, we recommend the targeting on in-house ethics training and explicitly including rewards and sanctions regarding ethical behavior in performance evaluation systems in tax professionals' firms.
Subjects: 
tax professionals
ethics
public revenues
tax compliance
Greece
JEL: 
H20
M40
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article

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