Robert W. McGee

Using data that was gathered as part of a much larger study on human beliefs and values, the present study examines the opinions on the ethics of tax evasion that were gathered from a wide demographic of respondents in Egypt, Iran and Jordan. Comparisons are made between the responses from each country. Comparisons are also made by gender, age and level of education in an attempt to determine whether these factors have any effect on ethical attitudes. Because comparisons are made by gender, age and level of education, the results of this study have implications that go far beyond the borders of Egypt, Iran and Jordan, since similar relationships probably exist between tax evasion opinions and these three demographics. The present study also tests the findings of some prior studies that have examined the relationship between gender, age and education level and attitudes toward tax evasion to determine whether the views held by the people in these three Middle Eastern countries are similar to or different from the views held by people in other countries. The present study has a sample size of 6642.

This article begins with a review of the literature on the ethics of tax evasion and identifies the three main views that have emerged over the centuries, namely always ethical, sometimes ethical, and never or almost never ethical. It then reports on the results of a survey of HK and U.S. university business students who were asked to express their opinions on the 15 statements covering the three main views. The data are then analyzed to determine which of the three viewpoints is dominant among the sample population. Although it was found that HK scores were significantly different from the U.S. scores, both HK and U.S. respondents were opposed to the view that tax evasion is always or almost always ethical. The strongest arguments justifying tax evasion were in cases where the government was corrupt, the tax system was unfair and unaffordable. The weakest arguments for justifying tax evasion were in cases where there was a selfish motive. The underlying cultural differences are further explored in hope of accounting for differing perceptions of ethics of tax evasion. Policy implications for increasing people’s awareness of ethics on tax evasion are also highlighted.