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A Study of Admitted Income Tax Evasion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2024

Robert Mason  and
Lyle D. Calvin
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Abstract

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A sample survey of 800 Oregon adults showed that nearly one in four admit they practice evasion. Higher percentages were found for people who were young, with low income, male, and who believed their chance of getting caught was low. Occupational prestige and belief that the tax system is unfair were unrelated to noncompliance. Differential opportunities to practice evasion is a promising explanation, and the deterrent effect of penalties seems uncertain. The evidence suggests conceptualizing tax evasion as a white-collar crime by the nature of the violation and not by the characteristics of the offender.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 13 , Issue 1 , Fall 1978 , pp. 73 - 89
Copyright
Copyright © 1978 Law and Society Association.

Footnotes

*

The authors thank the professional staff of the Oregon Department of Revenue and the Portland District Office of the Internal Revenue Service for providing information used in this paper. Professors Hart Wright and Richard Lempert, University of Michigan Law School, unnamed reviewers and the Review editors made valuable suggestions on earlier drafts of this paper. The survey was supported by a grant from the Oregon Department of Revenue.

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