IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/crpeac/v58y2019icp1-23.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

‘Paying taxes is losing money’: A qualitative study on institutional logics in the tax consultancy field in Romania

Author

Listed:
  • Apostol, Oana
  • Pop, Alina

Abstract

The role of the tax consultancy industry in promoting tax avoidance products is under increasing scrutiny in the Western world. Various societal actors, such as governmental and non-governmental organisations, academics and the media, have voiced their dissatisfaction with the negative effects of tax avoidance on state budgets. This is indicative of a changing attitude towards tax avoidance practices, and the public’s expectations of tax consultancy activities. Applying an institutional logics framework, this paper interprets the traditional values of tax consultancy as articulating commercial logic, and identifies new societal developments exerting pressure for ethical practices in the tax consultancy profession. While there are visible signs of both logics currently coexisting in Western countries, less is known about how these logics manifest in contexts beyond the Western world. We take an in-depth look at tax consultancy in Romania, a country that continuously strives to balance the remnants of its communist past with its newly claimed European identity. We examine the dynamics of these two institutional logics and how the features of Romanian society affect them.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:58:y:2019:i:c:p:1-23
    DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2018.05.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1045235418301370
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.cpa.2018.05.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Martinez-Vazquez, Jorge & McNab, Robert M., 2000. "The Tax Reform Experiment in Transitional Countries," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 53(2), pages 273-298, June.
    2. Ataur Belal & Crawford Spence & Chris Carter & Jingqi Zhu, 2017. "The Big 4 in Bangladesh: caught between the global and the local," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 30(1), pages 145-163, January.
    3. N. King & A. Beattie & A. -M. Cristescu & P. Weetman, 2001. "Developing accounting and audit in a transition economy: the Romanian experience," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(1), pages 149-171.
    4. Mehdi Boussebaa, 2015. "Professional service firms, globalisation and the new imperialism," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 28(8), pages 1217-1233, October.
    5. Egger, Peter & Eggert, Wolfgang & Winner, Hannes, 2010. "Saving taxes through foreign plant ownership," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 99-108, May.
    6. Nadia ALBU, 2013. "Exploring the Recent Evolution of the Accounting Profession in Romania – An Institutional Approach," Journal of Accounting and Management Information Systems, Faculty of Accounting and Management Information Systems, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, vol. 12(4), pages 537-552, December.
    7. Sam Dallyn, 2017. "An examination of the political salience of corporate tax avoidance: A case study of the Tax Justice Network," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(4), pages 336-352, December.
    8. Yolanda Kodrzycki, 1993. "Tax reform in newly emerging market economies," New England Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, issue Nov, pages 3-17.
    9. Grahame Dowling, 2014. "The Curious Case of Corporate Tax Avoidance: Is it Socially Irresponsible?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(1), pages 173-184, September.
    10. Walton Padelford & Darin White, 2010. "The Influence of Historical Socialism and Communism on the Shaping of a Society’s Economic Ethos: An Exploratory Study of Central and Eastern Europe," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 97(1), pages 109-117, November.
    11. James Alm & Benno Torgler, 2011. "Do Ethics Matter? Tax Compliance and Morality," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(4), pages 635-651, July.
    12. Sikka, Prem & Willmott, Hugh, 2010. "The dark side of transfer pricing: Its role in tax avoidance and wealth retentiveness," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 342-356.
    13. Chiapello, Eve, 2017. "Critical accounting research and neoliberalism," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 47-64.
    14. Kirchler, Erich & Hoelzl, Erik & Wahl, Ingrid, 2008. "Enforced versus voluntary tax compliance: The "slippery slope" framework," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 210-225, April.
    15. Andrew, Jane & Cortese, Corinne, 2013. "Free market environmentalism and the neoliberal project: The case of the Climate Disclosure Standards Board," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 397-409.
    16. Cătălin Albu & Nadia Albu & Robert Faff & Allan Hodgson, 2011. "Accounting Competencies and the Changing Role of Accountants in Emerging Economies: The Case of Romania," Accounting in Europe, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 155-184.
    17. Otusanya, Olatunde Julius, 2011. "The role of multinational companies in tax evasion and tax avoidance: The case of Nigeria," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 316-332.
    18. Sonja Olhoft Rego, 2003. "Tax†Avoidance Activities of U.S. Multinational Corporations," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(4), pages 805-833, December.
    19. Erard, Brian, 1993. "Taxation with representation : An analysis of the role of tax practitioners in tax compliance," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 163-197, September.
    20. Tudose Mihaela Brindusa & Strapuc Constantin, 2015. "The Impact Of Fiscality On The Behaviour Of Taxpayer. Analysis On The Example Of Romania," Annals - Economy Series, Constantin Brancusi University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 3, pages 5-9, June.
    21. Elaine Doyle & Jane Hughes & Keith Glaister, 2009. "Linking Ethics and Risk Management in Taxation: Evidence from an Exploratory Study in Ireland and the UK," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 86(2), pages 177-198, May.
    22. Mennicken, Andrea, 2010. "From inspection to auditing: Audit and markets as linked ecologies," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 334-359, April.
    23. Pawan Adhikari & Chamara Kuruppu & Sumohon Matilal, 2013. "Dissemination and institutionalization of public sector accounting reforms in less developed countries: A comparative study of the Nepalese and Sri Lankan central governments," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(3), pages 213-230, September.
    24. Cooper, Christine & Danson, Mike & Whittam, Geoff & Sheridan, Tommy, 2010. "The neoliberal project—Local taxation intervention in Scotland," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 195-210.
    25. Robert McGee & Simon Ho & Annie Li, 2008. "A Comparative Study on Perceived Ethics of Tax Evasion: Hong Kong Vs the United States," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 77(2), pages 147-158, January.
    26. Adhikari, Pawan & Kuruppu, Chamara & Matilal, Sumohon, 2013. "Dissemination and institutionalization of public sector accounting reforms in less developed countries: A comparative study of the Nepalese and Sri Lankan central governments," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 213-230.
    27. Robert W. McGee (ed.), 2008. "Taxation and Public Finance in Transition and Developing Economies," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-0-387-25712-9, September.
    28. Pat Sucher & Katarzyna Kosmala & Svetlana Bychkova & Irene Jindrichovska, 2005. "Introduction: Transitional economies and changing notions of accounting and accountability," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(3), pages 571-577.
    29. Elaine Doyle & Jane Frecknall-Hughes & Barbara Summers, 2014. "Ethics in Tax Practice: A Study of the Effect of Practitioner Firm Size," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 122(4), pages 623-641, July.
    30. Jupe, Robert & Funnell, Warwick, 2015. "Neoliberalism, consultants and the privatisation of public policy formulation: The case of Britain's rail industry," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 65-85.
    31. Morales, Jérémy & Gendron, Yves & Guénin-Paracini, Henri, 2014. "State privatization and the unrelenting expansion of neoliberalism: The case of the Greek financial crisis," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 423-445.
    32. Mennicken, Andrea, 2010. "From inspection to auditing: audit and markets as linked ecologies," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 27054, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    33. Robert McGee, 2006. "Three Views on the Ethics of Tax Evasion," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 67(1), pages 15-35, August.
    34. Ronald D. Picur & Ahmed Riahi-Belkaoui, 2006. "The impact of bureaucracy, corruption and tax compliance," Review of Accounting and Finance, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 5(2), pages 174-180, May.
    35. Martinez-Vazquez, Jorge & McNab, Robert M., 2000. "The Tax Reform Experiment in Transitional Countries," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 53(n. 2), pages 273-98, June.
    36. Andrew, Jane & Cahill, Damien, 2017. "Rationalising and resisting neoliberalism: The uneven geography of costs," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 12-28.
    37. Prem Sikka & Mark P. Hampton, 2005. "The role of accountancy firms in tax avoidance: Some evidence and issues," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(3), pages 325-343, September.
    38. Irene Herremans & M. Herschovis & Stephanie Bertels, 2009. "Leaders and Laggards: The Influence of Competing Logics on Corporate Environmental Action," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 89(3), pages 449-472, October.
    39. Boll, Karen, 2014. "Mapping tax compliance," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 293-303.
    40. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Robert McNab, 2000. "Tax Reform in The Tax Reform Experiment in Transitional Countries," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper0001, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    41. Gerald M. Easter, 2002. "Politics of Revenue Extraction in Post-Communist States: Poland and Russia Compared," Politics & Society, , vol. 30(4), pages 599-627, December.
    42. Barthold, Charles & Dunne, Stephen & Harvie, David, 2018. "Resisting financialisation with Deleuze and Guattari: The case of Occupy Wall Street," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 4-16.
    43. Alm, James & Torgler, Benno, 2006. "Culture differences and tax morale in the United States and in Europe," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 224-246, April.
    44. Sikka, Prem, 2015. "The hand of accounting and accountancy firms in deepening income and wealth inequalities and the economic crisis: Some evidence," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 46-62.
    45. Alicja Jaruga & Ewa Walinska & Andrzej Baniewicz, 1996. "The relationship between accounting and taxation in Poland," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 883-897.
    46. Christoph Spengel & Sebastian Lazar & Lisa Evers & Benedikt Zinn, 2012. "Reduction of the effective corporate tax burden in Romania 1992--2012 and Romania's current ranking among the Central and Eastern European EU member states," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 477-502, August.
    47. Irena Solodchenko & Pat Sucher, 2005. "Accounting in Ukraine since independence: Real politik, problems and prospects," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(3), pages 603-633.
    48. Michael P Devereux, 2007. "Taxes in the EU New Member States and the Location of Capital and Profit," Working Papers 0703, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation.
    49. Tan, Lin Mei, 1999. "Taxpayers' preference for type of advice from tax practitioner: A preliminary examination," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 431-447, August.
    50. Lutz Preuss, 2012. "Responsibility in Paradise? The Adoption of CSR Tools by Companies Domiciled in Tax Havens," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 110(1), pages 1-14, September.
    51. Klepper, Steven & Mazur, Mark & Nagin, Daniel, 1991. "Expert Intermediaries and Legal Compliance: The Case of Tax Preparers," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(1), pages 205-229, April.
    52. Elaine Doyle & Jane Frecknall Hughes & Barbara Summers, 2013. "An Empirical Analysis of the Ethical Reasoning of Tax Practitioners," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 325-339, May.
    53. J.C. Sharman, 2005. "South Pacific tax havens: From leaders in the race to the bottom to laggards in the race to the top?," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(3), pages 311-323, September.
    54. Sikka, Prem & Willmott, Hugh, 1995. "The power of "independence": defending and extending the jurisdiction of accounting in the United Kingdom," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 20(6), pages 547-581, August.
    55. Susan Addison & Frank Mueller, 2015. "The dark side of professions: the big four and tax avoidance," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 28(8), pages 1263-1290, October.
    56. 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.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Argilés-Bosch, Josep Mª & Ravenda, Diego & Garcia-Blandón, Josep, 2021. "E-commerce and labour tax avoidance," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    2. Albu, Nadia & Albu, Cătălin Nicolae & Cho, Charles H. & Pesci, Caterina, 2023. "Not on the ruins, but with the ruins of the past – Inertia and change in the financial reporting field in a transitioning country," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    3. Young, Amanda & James, Kieran & Hassan, Abeer, 2022. "The role of regressive sugar tax in the soft drink industry levy (SDIL): A Marxist analysis," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pickhardt, Michael & Prinz, Aloys, 2014. "Behavioral dynamics of tax evasion – A survey," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 1-19.
    2. Barbara Culiberg & Domen Bajde, 2014. "Do You Need a Receipt? Exploring Consumer Participation in Consumption Tax Evasion as an Ethical Dilemma," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(2), pages 271-282, October.
    3. 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.
    4. Frecknall-Hughes, Jane & Gangl, Katharina & Hofmann, Eva & Hartl, Barbara & Kirchler, Erich, 2023. "The influence of tax authorities on the employment of tax practitioners: Empirical evidence from a survey and interview study," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    5. Argilés-Bosch, Josep Mª & Ravenda, Diego & Garcia-Blandón, Josep, 2021. "E-commerce and labour tax avoidance," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    6. Rajat Deb & Sourav Chakraborty, 2017. "Tax Perception and Tax Evasion," IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, , vol. 6(2), pages 174-185, July.
    7. 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).
    8. Gilbert, Christine, 2022. "The audit of public debt: Auditing as a device for political resistance in a neoliberal era," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    9. 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.
    10. Kaifala, Gabriel B. & Paisey, Catriona & Paisey, Nicholas J., 2021. "The UK pensions landscape – A critique of the role of accountants and accounting technologies in the treatment of social and societal risks," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    11. Dinah M. Payne & Cecily A. Raiborn, 2018. "Aggressive Tax Avoidance: A Conundrum for Stakeholders, Governments, and Morality," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 147(3), pages 469-487, February.
    12. Dzemydaitė Giedrė & Savilionytė Ieva, 2017. "The Spread of the Shadow Economy as a Moral Dilemma?," Ekonomika (Economics), Sciendo, vol. 96(3), pages 44-55, January.
    13. Gerxhani, Klarita & Schram, Arthur, 2006. "Tax evasion and income source: A comparative experimental study," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 402-422, June.
    14. Larissa M. Batrancea & Anca Nichita & Ruggero Agostini & Fabricio Batista Narcizo & Denis Forte & Samuel Paiva Neves Mamede & Ana Maria Roux-Cesar & Bozhidar Nedev & Leoš Vitek & József Pántya & Aidin, 2022. "A self-employed taxpayer experimental study on trust, power, and tax compliance in eleven countries," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 8(1), pages 1-23, December.
    15. James Alm, 2019. "What Motivates Tax Compliance?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 353-388, April.
    16. Gangl, Katharina & Torgler, Benno & Kirchler, Erich & Hofmann, Eva, 2014. "Effects of supervision on tax compliance: Evidence from a field experiment in Austria," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 123(3), pages 378-382.
    17. Ross Adriana M. & McGee Robert W., 2011. "Attitudes toward Tax Evasion: A Demographic Study of Malaysia," Asian Journal of Law and Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 2(3), pages 1-51, October.
    18. Puklavec, Žiga & Kogler, Christoph & Stavrova, Olga & Zeelenberg, Marcel, 2023. "What we tweet about when we tweet about taxes: A topic modelling approach," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 1242-1254.
    19. Fábio Pereira Silva & Reinaldo Guerreiro & Eduardo Flores, 2019. "Voluntary versus enforced tax compliance: the slippery slope framework in the Brazilian context," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 66(2), pages 147-180, June.
    20. James Alm, 2015. "Analyzing and Reforming Tunisia's Tax System," Working Papers 1515, Tulane University, Department of Economics.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:58:y:2019:i:c:p:1-23. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/critical-perspectives-on-accounting/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.