Corporate social responsibility and tax avoidance: A comment and reflection

Hasseldine, John; Morris, Gregory L.

doi:10.1016/j.accfor.2012.05.001

Cited by 84 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 36 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Sikka (2010) argued that tax aggressiveness is inconsistent with CSR, highlighting the ''corporate hypocrisy'' of using questionable tax corporate strategies while making empty public statements about tax compliance. Hasseldine and Morris (2013) responded to Sikka (2010), clarified the differences between tax avoidance and tax evasion, and argued that future work should continue to explore the link between tax avoidance with CSR.…”

Section: The Complimentary Domains Of Corporate Social Responsibilitymentioning

confidence: 95%

Tax Avoidance as a Sustainability Problem

2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This manuscript proposes that tax avoidance can be better understood and mitigated as a sustainability problem. Tax avoidance is not just a financial problem for tax authorities, but one that erodes critical common spaces necessary for the smooth functioning of regulatory compliance, organizational integrity, and society. Defining tax avoidance as a sustainability problem offers a broader and more holistic understanding of the organizational and societal consequences of tax avoidance behavior. Sustainability is also a mature and legitimized concept that can readily incorporate taxation. A variety of established sustainability metrics have the capacity to incorporate anti-tax avoidance measures or publicize firms that engage in fair tax practices. This manuscript concludes that integrating sustainability principles, in conjunction with important extant work on corporate social responsibility and taxation, can advance the goals of decreasing the occurrence and acceptability of tax avoidance.

show abstract

Section: The Complimentary Domains Of Corporate Social Responsibilitymentioning

confidence: 95%

Tax Avoidance as a Sustainability Problem

2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…While businesses may have been able to operate strictly according to the letter of the law some years ago, these days firms are widely expected to act within the spirit of the relevant legislation to meet societal expectations (Hasseldine and Morris 2013). Former US president Obama, for example, has been quoted as saying of firms that are relocating their headquarters overseas, ''These firms are corporate deserters, guilty of gaming the system at the expense of ordinary citizens.…”

Section: Background and Context Of Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Stakeholder expectations on how companies should behave above and beyond legal frameworks are particularly interesting at a time when companies are seen to have the scope to determine how much tax to pay within a certain tax system (Hasseldine and Morris 2013;Klassen and Laplante 2012). While businesses may have been able to operate strictly according to the letter of the law some years ago, these days firms are widely expected to act within the spirit of the relevant legislation to meet societal expectations (Hasseldine and Morris 2013).…”

Section: Background and Context Of Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some firms argue that the more general anti-corporate sentiment engendered by the debate may damage the business case for locating in the UK. As such, the narrative iterated within business groups is often one of compliance and competition (Hasseldine and Morris 2013). From the ''society'' perspective, frustration is said to be mounting among British people that business seems to be getting away with paying small contributions, while citizens face increasing tax bills and the public sector appears subjected to years of ever harsher spending cuts following the recent recession (Watt 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Corporate Tax: What Do Stakeholders Expect?

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Motivated by the ongoing controversy surrounding corporate tax, this article presents a study that explores stakeholder expectations of corporate tax in the context of UK business. We conduct a qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with representatives of community groups (NGOs/think tanks and special interest groups), as well as interviews with those representing business groups (business leaders and industry representatives). We then identify eight themes that together describe ''what'' companies need to do, ''how'' they need to do it, and ''why'' they need to do it, if they wish to appeal to a wide group of interested parties. We discuss our findings based on the corporate social responsibility literature and propose novel ways for community groups and business groups to connect on the topic of corporate tax, suggesting opportunities and themes for dialogue and potential steps to co-create solutions in a stakeholder society.

show abstract

“…Tax evasion is an illegal activity, involving intentional non-disclosure or concealment, be it fraudulent or not. 82 Taken in its widest sense, the concept of (legal) tax avoidance comprises 'all arrangements to reduce, eliminate or defer a tax liability'. 83 A moral evaluation of tax planning practices requires broadening the scope of the concept 'tax planning' beyond a purely legal perspective, for law as a system of codified ethics is part of the (wider) public morality.…”

Section: Responsibility: Self-restraint and Cooperationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Integrity of the Tax System after BEPS: A Shared Responsibility

Gribnau¹

2017

Erasmus Law Review

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The international tax system is the result of the interaction of different actors who share the responsibility for its integrity. States and multinational corporations both enjoy to a certain extent freedom of choice with regard to their tax behaviour -which entails moral responsibility. Making, interpreting and using tax rules therefore is inevitably a matter of exercising responsibility. Both should abstain from viewing tax laws as a bunch of technical rules to be used as a tool without any intrinsic moral or legal value. States bear primary responsibility for the integrity of the international tax system. They should become more reticent in their use of tax as regulatory instrument -competing with one another for multinationals' investment. They should also act more responsibly by cooperating to make better rules to prevent aggressive tax planning, which entails a shift in tax payments from very expert taxpayers to other taxpayers. Here, the distributive justice of the tax system and a level playing field should be guaranteed. Multinationals should abstain from putting pressure on states and lobbying for favourable tax rules that disproportionally affect other taxpayers -SMEs and individual taxpayers alike. Multinationals and their tax advisers should avoid irresponsible conduct by not aiming to pay a minimalist amount of (corporate income) taxes -merely staying within the boundaries of the letter of the law. Especially CSR-corporations should assume the responsibility for the integrity of the tax system.

show abstract

Corporate social responsibility and tax avoidance: A comment and reflection

Cited by 84 publications

References 36 publications

Tax Avoidance as a Sustainability Problem

Tax Avoidance as a Sustainability Problem

Corporate Tax: What Do Stakeholders Expect?

The Integrity of the Tax System after BEPS: A Shared Responsibility

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About