Ethics and taxation: A cross-national comparison of UK and Turkish firms

• Published in: International business review Vol. 22; no. 1; pp. 100 - 111
• Main Authors: Demirbag, Mehmet, Frecknall-Hughes, Jane, Glaister, Keith W., Tatoglu, Ekrem
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2013
• Subjects: Cross-national analysis; Cross-national comparison; Doctors; Ethics; Legal systems; Regulation; Taxation; Turkey; United Kingdom; Ethics; Turkey; Taxation; UK; Cross-national comparison
• ISSN: 0969-5931; 1873-6149
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ibusrev.2012.02.007

► We examine tax related ethical issues facing firms in the UK and Turkey. ► We identify a similarity of perception among practitioners in both countries. ► There are also several statistically significant differences between the two groups. ► Employing aggressive tax advisers is considered more seriously by Turkish firms. ► Lobbying the government for tax law changes is viewed more importantly by UK firms. This paper investigates responses to tax related ethical issues facing firms, an area where there has been little prior research. As perceptions may be determined by response to different legal systems and regulations, we examine responses to a series of ethical questions posed to two groups of tax practitioners, one group employed in UK firms and another group employed in Turkish firms. This facilitates both an examination of responses from within each country and a cross-national comparison of ethics and taxation. Although there is a similarity of perception of the importance of a number of taxation related ethical issues between UK practitioners and Turkish practitioners, there are also several statistically significant differences between the two groups. The paper makes a significant contribution to the literature through obtaining and analysing data from tax professionals in the UK and Turkey to provide a cross-national study of corporate tax practice and ethics. The paper is novel in that no prior studies have reported cross-national studies that have examined tax issues related to firms.