The current study was designed to investigate U.S. taxpayers' perception of the severity of tax evasion relative to other offences in general and white-collar crimes in particular. We compared the perception of tax evasion to twenty other offences, including violent crimes such as rape and murder and relatively minor offences such as jaywalking. Due to the recent focus by lawmakers and the media on white-collar scandals and the lack of comparisons in prior literature, we also included six white-collar crimes. Overall, the results indicate that tax evasion was viewed as only somewhat serious. When comparing tax evasion to other white-collar offences, we found that tax evasion was perceived as equal in severity to minimum wage law violations and rated less serious than the other four white-collar crimes investigated. Most demographic factors (age, gender, education or income level, political affiliation, etc.) did not seem to be related to perceptions of tax evasion. However, location of taxpayers did have some effect. These findings differ from several previous studies.2
This paper explores the perception of Yemeni citizens of the severity of tax evasion relative to other crimes and violations. Perception of tax evasion may somewhat explain the degree of non-compliance with the tax laws. Using data from a self-administered survey and a personnel structured interview, the results of mean and comparative analysis show that tax evasion items were ranked as the three least crimes of 30 listed crimes. Further, Tax evasion is categorized the least serious category out of six categories. The results of this study should be useful to policy makers in Yemen and elsewhere, as it was found that there is an alarming signal that tax evasion is relatively ranked as the least serious offence, which could lead to an environment where taxpayers may not be afraid of cheating on their tax returns.
The U.S. federal government raises most of its revenue from three sources: individual income tax, payroll tax, and corporate income tax. The corporate tax share of total federal revenue has declined dramatically over the last three decades, while tax from individual income has been consistent during the same period. There may be a number of reasons for the decrease in the contribution corporate income taxes make to federal revenues. One of those reasons may be that there has been a dramatic change in how businesses are being organized and operated in the United States. For many years, business entities could choose to operate as either a corporation or a partnership. However, currently, businesses can choose from a variety of entities in which to operate. This article will examine the changes in capital business formations and their impact on the federal revenue collected. In addition, the article will explore the tax policy implications of these new strategies.
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