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The Economic Psychology of Tax Behaviour. By Erich Kirchler. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Pp xvii+262. $91.00 cloth.
Whether you are a tax professional, business owner, or trusting citizen, each individual is affected by taxes. Is there a psychology behind whether people pay their taxes? At times, it becomes difficult to define legal tax behavior. Governments even claim to simplify the process to eliminate the leaks in the tax system. Using the United States as an example, its tax code has increased from 400,000 to more than 1.6 million words in the last 50 years. Will complicated tax codes make people pay their taxes? What does this say about a government and its knowledge of people's attitudes regarding taxes? What kind of message does a government send when it takes an already hard-to-comprehend tax system and make it even more so?
Those interested in the answers to these questions should consider Kirchler's well-researched book, The Economic Psychology of Tax Behaviour. Although the title makes the book sound boring, the book is, in fact, an easy read with eye-opening insight on how taxation leads to behavior patterns in society. Kirchler, a University of Vienna psychology professor, has taken his...