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An examination of the ethical influences on the work of tax practitioners

Frecknall-Hughes, Jane; Moizer, Peter; Doyle, Elaine; Summers, Barbara

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Authors

Peter Moizer

Elaine Doyle

Barbara Summers



Abstract

As a contribution to the continuing debate about tax practitioner ethics, this paper explores the main streams of Western ethical thought that are relevant to tax practitioners’ work, most typically deontology and consequentialism (although virtue ethics and distributive justice are also considered). It then goes on to consider the impact of such ethical influences on the professional ethical codes of conduct that govern tax practitioners’ work (with specific reference to the UK and Ireland), and attempts to unravel the complex work and ethical environment of the practice of tax in terms of tax compliance and tax avoidance. The paper then examines the prior studies on tax practitioners and ethics and the type of dilemmas that practitioners face in the context of their work. The paper proceeds to examine empirically the extent to which tax practitioners take a consequentialist versus a deontological approach in their reasoning about moral dilemmas. This is carried out by an innovative use of the Defining Issues Test

Citation

Frecknall-Hughes, J., Moizer, P., Doyle, E., & Summers, B. (2017). An examination of the ethical influences on the work of tax practitioners. Journal of Business Ethics, 146(4), https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3037-6

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jan 20, 2016
Online Publication Date Feb 17, 2016
Publication Date Dec 17, 2017
Deposit Date Feb 8, 2017
Publicly Available Date Feb 8, 2017
Journal Journal of Business Ethics
Print ISSN 0167-4544
Electronic ISSN 1573-0697
Publisher Springer Verlag
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 146
Issue 4
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3037-6
Keywords Consequentialism, Deontology, Distributive justice, Defining Issues Test (DIT), Ethical codes, Tax practitioners’ work, Tax compliance, Tax planning/avoidance
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/900585
Publisher URL http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-016-3037-6
Contract Date Feb 8, 2017

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