People see tax systems as a mechanism for positive change, but are concerned about corruption, according to a joint survey by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ) and the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), published on Wednesday 13 September. For example, 53.8% of respondents from G20 countries and New Zealand said that corruption was an important factor in their attitude to tax.
“This is not a problem that only affects developing countries”, pointed out Joseph Stead, tax and development policy analyst at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), at the conference organised to mark the publication of the report on Thursday 14 September. “We must always be on our guard against corruption”, he added.
For Delia Ferreira Rubio, Chair of Transparency International, “transparency and lack of accountability are key elements in the fight against corruption”. “Accountants and lawyers play a key role in this area and in creating, building and maintaining confidence in the tax system”, she commented.
As the survey shows, respondents have a higher level of confidence in professional tax accountants and professional tax lawyers. Trust in government tax authorities comes third, with 43% of respondents saying they trust or have a great deal of trust in the tax authorities. Despite this, 29% of those questioned said they distrusted or strongly distrusted the tax authorities, making them the most controversial profession in public opinion.
For Ms Ferreira Rubio, corruption gives “the impression that your taxes are not working for you”, which is “an obstacle to trust”. Corruption also leads to a feeling of inequality. “This perception that powerful people are the actors of corruption, because corruption is not only on the government side, it’s like a tango”, she analysed.
For Joseph Stead, digitalisation would be a way of helping to increase trust, as “it can certainly eliminate certain opportunities for corruption”. There is also a lot of turnover of administrative staff who have developed their skills, built up good relationships and then disappear to do something else. However, this system is a tool for certain authorities, as it helps to prevent potential abuses.
Read the survey: https://aeur.eu/f/8kc (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)