Taxes - Just for the Little People? An Application of Major Criminological Theories to Tax Evasion
| Author | Gavyn N. Cairns |
| Position | Junior Sophister Law student, Trinity College Dublin |
| Pages | 73-85 |
TAXES
-
JUST
FOR
THE
LITTLE
PEOPLE?
AN
APPLICATION
OF
MAJOR
CRIMINOLOGICAL
THEORIES
TO
TAx
EVASION
GAVYN
N.
CAIRNS*
"Crime,
like
virtue, has
its
degrees."
'
"We
don't
pay taxes. Only the
little people
pay
taxes.
2
Preface
Tax evasion
is
an
old
but
growing
problem.
3 It
raises
issues
relevant
to a
broad
range
of
social sciences
-
accounting,
economics,
psychology,
political
science,
and
sociology
-
and
is
of
enormous
importance
in
policy
design.
Nevertheless, research
into
tax
evasion
has been
beset
with
measurement
problems;
the hidden
economy
is
well
named.
Taxes are
to
be
found
everywhere.
Tax
evasion
is
similarly
ubiquitous.
It
is
a
universal
phenomenon, a
behaviour
that
can
be
found
in
a
huge
variety
of
cultural
and
legal
settings.
a
Therefore
it
provides
criminologists
with
a
unique
opportunity
to
study
an
individual
behaviour
with
a
high
societal
relevance
across
a
range
of
cultures.
'
Junior Sophister
Law
student,
Trinity
College
Dublin.
The
author
wishes
to
acknowledge
the
very helpful
comments
of
Professor
Ivana
Bacik
and
Mr
Fergus
W.
Ryan who
read
earlier
drafts
of
this
article.
All
errors and
omissions
remain,
of
course, the sole
responsibility
of
the
author.
1
Jean
Racine (1639-1699)
French
dramatist.
2
Leona
Helmsley
(b.
1920)
US
businesswoman; quoted
in
the
New
York
Times,
12
July
1989.
3
The
UK,
which
first
introduced income
tax
in
1799 to
help
pay
for
the Napoleonic
wars,
gradually
developed
an
effective structure
to
administer
it.
The
various
schedules
which
deal
with
income
from
particular
sources,
were
introduced
in 1803
and
are,
with slight
modifications,
still
in
operation.
The
'Pay
As
You
Earn'
system,
which
has
been
an
effective
counter
to
evasion,
was
introduced
under
the
impetus
of
the
Second
World
War.
Before
the
war
less
than
a
fifth
of
the
working
population
paid
income
tax
but
by
1948
this
had
increased
to
two-thirds
and
now
it
is
more
than
90%.
So
for
a
long
time
the
population
has
been
used
to
paying
income
tax.
See
Webley, Robben, Elffers
and Hessing,
Tax
Evasion
-An
Experimental
Approach,
(Cambridge
University
Press,
1991),
at
23-24.
4
For
instance
in
Italy
many
ancient
sayings
that epitomise
a sentimental attitude
to
tax
evasion
are
still
quoted with
approval;
"He
who
robs
from
the
King, does
no
sin.
"
Ibid.,
at
24.
©
1999
Gavyn
N.
Cairns
and
Dublin
University
Law
Society
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