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An Empirical Analysis of the Ethical Reasoning of Tax Practitioners

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  • Elaine Doyle
  • Jane Frecknall Hughes
  • Barbara Summers

Abstract

How tax practitioners approach ethical dilemmas remains generally unexplored in academic literature. We use here Rest’s original Defining Issues Test (Development in judging moral issues. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1979 ; Moral development. Advances in research and theory. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1986 ), combined with a tax context-specific test and in conjunction with a control group of non-tax specialists, to examine tax practitioners’ moral reasoning in a social and tax context. We investigate: (i) the effect of a tax context on issues raised (finding that practitioners generally reason at lower levels than in social scenarios); (ii) whether the profession attracts people who reason at certain levels (finding that it does not); and (iii) whether practitioners are affected by training/socialization in their professional context (finding that that they are). Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2013

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:114:y:2013:i:2:p:325-339
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-012-1347-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Axel Möhlmann, 2014. "Persistence or Convergence? The East-West Tax-Morale Gap in Germany," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 70(1), pages 3-30, March.
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    5. Mayer, Maryse & Gendron, Yves, 2024. "“Fly alone, die alone”? The clan and the production of tax expertise," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(3).
    6. Doyle, Elaine & Frecknall-Hughes, Jane & Summers, Barbara, 2022. "Ethical reasoning in tax practice: Law or is there more?," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    7. Beatriz García-Ortega & Blanca de-Miguel-Molina & Javier Galán-Cubillo, 2019. "Examining CEOs’ Moral Reasoning in the Automotive Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-24, October.
    8. Jane Frecknall-Hughes & Peter Moizer & Elaine Doyle & Barbara Summers, 2017. "An Examination of Ethical Influences on the Work of Tax Practitioners," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 146(4), pages 729-745, December.
    9. 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.
    10. Janie Bérubé & Yves Gendron, 2023. "Developing Ethical Sensitivity in Future Accounting Practitioners: The Case of a Dialogic Learning for Final-Year Undergraduates," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(3), pages 763-781, March.
    11. 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.
    12. Peter E. Mudrack & E. Sharon Mason, 2022. "Vignette Themes and Moral Reasoning in Business Contexts: The Case for the Defining Issues Test," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 181(4), pages 979-995, December.

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