Taxpayer - state relations as predictors of fiscal morality

Why do we pay taxes? According to the deterrence models that prevailed until recently, taxpayers make payments due to the threat of high fines, the possibility of inspection of the revenue forms submitted, and the conviction that such behaviour is not ethical. In resistance models tax morality is presented as an exogenous variable that directly influences the behaviour of taxpayers. In the author's studies the morality of taxpayers was treated as an endogenous variable, shaped by state fiscal policy and the activity of fiscal services. The hypotheses assumed that tax morality is influenced by the evaluation of procedures, results, the manner of administration of the income from taxes and the evaluation of exchange between an individual and the state. The assumptions were reflected in the proposed theoretical model. The verification of the model was performed with the aid of the AMOS structural equation modelling procedure. The results of the author's own studies emphasize the importance of the relations between taxpayer and state institutions based on subjectivity and mutual trust and respect, for they lead to decreasing social distance between the taxpayers and the representatives of the authority and may ensure psychological legitimisation of the creators and executors of fiscal law. peerReviewed publishedVersion