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Mapping tax compliance

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  • Boll, Karen

Abstract

Tax compliance denotes the act of reporting and paying taxes in accordance with the tax laws. Current social science scholarship on tax compliance can almost entirely be divided into behavioural psychology analyses and critical tax studies. This article, which presents two cases of how tax compliance is constructed, challenges the explanatory reaches of today's social science approaches, arguing that an alternative approach to understanding tax compliance is worthwhile exploring. This other choice of approach, inspired by actor–network theory (ANT), adopts a more practice-oriented focus that studies tax compliance where it takes place as well as what it is made of. Consequently, this article argues that tax compliance is a socio-material assemblage and that complying is a distributed action. The article concludes by highlighting how an ANT approach contributes to the further theoretical development of social science studies of taxation.

Suggested Citation

  • Boll, Karen, 2014. "Mapping tax compliance," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 293-303.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:25:y:2014:i:4:p:293-303
    DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2013.03.002
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    1. Wynter, Carlene Beth & Oats, Lynne, 2018. "Don’t worry, we are not after you! Anancy culture and tax enforcement in Jamaica," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 56-69.
    2. Björklund Larsen, Lotta, 2015. "Common sense at the Swedish Tax Agency: Transactional boundaries that separate taxable and tax-free income," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 75-89.
    3. Mohammed Abdullahi Umar & Chek Derashid & Idawati Ibrahim, 2017. "What Is Wrong With the Fiscal Social Contract of Taxation in Developing Countries? A Dialogue With Self-Employed Business Owners in Nigeria," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(4), pages 21582440177, December.
    4. Edgley, Carla & Holland, Kevin, 2021. "“Unknown unknowns” and the tax knowledge gap: Power and the materiality of discretionary tax disclosures," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    5. Radcliffe, Vaughan S. & Spence, Crawford & Stein, Mitchell & Wilkinson, Brett, 2018. "Professional repositioning during times of institutional change: The case of tax practitioners and changing moral boundaries," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 45-59.
    6. Ylönen, Matti & Laine, Matias, 2015. "For logistical reasons only? A case study of tax planning and corporate social responsibility reporting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 5-23.
    7. Apostol, Oana & Pop, Alina, 2019. "‘Paying taxes is losing money’: A qualitative study on institutional logics in the tax consultancy field in Romania," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1-23.
    8. Boll Karen & Tell Michael, 2015. "Proactive Public Disclosure: A new regulatory strategy for creating tax compliance?," Nordic Tax Journal, Sciendo, vol. 2015(2), pages 36-46, December.

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