How serious is tax evasion A survey of Mexican opinion

Abstract

The goal of this study is to determine the relative seriousness of tax evasion compared to other crimes or acts that are considered to be unethical. A few other studies have examined this issue and have used methodologies similar to the one used in the present study. Karlinsky, Burton and Blanthorne (2004) measured the perceptions of students in North Carolina and California as to the seriousness of tax evasion and found that it ranked 11th out of 21 offenses. Burton, Karlinsky and Blanthorne (2005) surveyed MBA and graduate tax students from California and North Carolina as well as a few tax professors from across the USA using the same methodology and list of crimes and found the same result with regard to tax evasion; it ranked 11th out of 21 crimes. Gupta (2007) replicated the 2004 study using a New Zealand student population and found that tax evasion ranked 12th out of 21 crimes.