Equity, Aggressiveness, Consensus: A Comparison of Taxpayers and Tax Preparers.

Abstract As noted by Christian et al. (1993) and Roth et al. (1989), one of the most promising areas to improve tax compliance is understanding the preparer/client relationship. The role of tax preparers and taxpayers is extremely important. Prior research is unclear as to the role preparers play in the tax compliance process. The purpose of this study is to provide exploratory evidence concerning the role in compliance of tax preparers as compared to taxpayers. Specifically, the equity perceptions, aggressiveness, and consensus are compared between a sample of taxpayers and tax preparers. The findings are as follows: 1) The taxpayers had significantly lower equity perceptions of the tax system than did the tax preparers. 2) The taxpayers were significantly more aggressive (especially in tax due/underwithheld situations) than the preparers on the same ambiguous tax issues. 3) The preparers, as a group, exhibited a significantly higher degree of consensus than the taxpayers. If these findings are replicated across samples and tax scenarios, it may be shown that taxpayers (especially in tax due positions), not preparers, are the instigators of aggressive tax positions. exploratory evidence concerning the role in compliance of tax preparers as compared to taxpayers. Level of equity perceptions of the tax system; Attitude toward ambiguous tax issues; Degree of consensus.