Law Commons^™

Tax Compliance And Norm Formation Under High-Penalty Regimes, Susan Morse

Susan Cleary Morse

Skepticism about the potential of moral appeals relating to tax compliance -- for example, as applied to large groups of individual taxpayers outside a wartime context -- has resulted in the absence of a theory about how salient government communication can further tax compliance. This Article fills that gap. It provides a comprehensive theory of tax compliance and norm formation under high-penalty regimes from the starting point of a non-compliance norm.

The theory explains the roles of and mutually reinforcing relationships between the compliance mechanisms of deterrence, separation and reputation signaling. The success of these mechanisms depends on the presence …

Tax Compliance And The Love Molecule, Susan Morse

Susan Cleary Morse

If oxytocin is the source of human reciprocity, then perhaps storytelling that evokes close human relationships is the key to using reciprocity to further tax compliance.

How Australia Got A Vat, Susan C. Morse

Susan Cleary Morse

Australia got its goods and services tax – its VAT -- in 2000. It enacted GST legislation through ordinary political channels, without external pressure from a multinational organization, without the pressure of an extreme national fiscal crisis and without an unusual exercise of executive authority. And the GST-enacting center-right Liberal-National Party government retained control for seven years after the reform.

This paper tells the Australian story in four parts: (1) framing the GST as a relatively efficient tax; (2) building a coalition between business and social welfare interest groups; (3) emphasizing efficiency while addressing regressivity in the political and legislative …