The Effect of Tax Authority Behavior on Taxpayer Compliance: A Procedural Justice Approach.

The purpose of this study is to determine If tax collection procedures that are perceived to be unfair cause taxpayers to underreport their taxable income. The study draws upon procedural justice theory to predict how taxpayers will respond to what they perceive as unfair treatment by tax authorities. Two procedural justice constructs are examined using an experiment: consistency and accuracy. In addition to examining the direct effects of procedural injustice, this study also tests whether unfair tax enforcement procedures experienced vicariously will also adversely affect taxpaying behavior. The results indicate that procedural injustice experienced indirectly through becoming aware of another's unfair treatment increased the level of noncompliance. Conversely, procedural injustice experienced personally, either by being subject to inconsistency in enforcement or to enforcement attempts brought about by inaccurate information, did not increase the level of noncompliance. In fact, inconsistent audit rates actually increased the level of compliance.