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 …