The Ethics of Tax Evasion: A Survey of Administrative Sciences’Students in Yemen

Abstract

Most of the studies conducted on the issue of tax evasion focused on the economic and public finance perspectives rather than the philosophical and theoretical perspectives (McGee, 2005). This study examines the perceptions of undergraduate students in the College of Business at Hadhramout University for the academic year 2009/2010 on the ethics of tax evasion. A questionnaire was designed using a seven point Likert scale and distributed to students in order to learn their opinions. The arguments are then ranked from strongest to weakest. One hundred twenty-four (124) usable surveys were received. The results of the study show that tax evasion is ethical under some circumstances. The majority of the respondents were opposed to the view that tax evasion is always or almost always ethical. However, respondents held the point of view that, as Muslims, it is unethical to evade tax.