Online talk - Ethical reasoning and decision making in tax practitioners
Barbara Summers online talk for FERNFH, Austria, "Ethical reasoning and decision making in tax practitioners" is now available online (link opens in a new tab):
Abstract
Tax avoidance is an issue that raises public concern in many countries. Internationally, this has become the focus of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting initiative of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the G20. There has been particular concern about the tax paid by corporations, and there have even been demonstrations about tax loopholes and companies that do not pay tax. The general public, as well as governments, are increasingly taking the view that companies and rich individuals should pay their “fair share of tax” and not to do so has, for some years, been discussed as an ethical issue.
Tax practitioners are at the heart of this issue as they offer advice on how their clients should structure their affairs, and often are seen as those who find tax loopholes and originate schemes to take advantage of them. This talk will look at a research project on ethical reasoning in tax practitioners that seeks to unpick what might be the motivating forces behind tax practitioner decision making.