Does Personality Influence Willingness to Pay Taxes?
Does Personality Influence Willingness to Pay Taxes?

Summary/Abstract: Governments rely on income from taxes to function. Tax evasion therefore affects them directly. Although tax compliance has been studied, the literature does not exhaustively elucidate the factors that affect tax compliance and tax morale. The article contributes to closing the gap by investigating whether personality is a factor influencing tax morale. Personality traits were measured using the Big Five Inventory 2 and the measure of Honesty-Humility from HEX- -ACO-PI-R. Ordinary least squares regression was used for estimation; the explained variable was the amount that respondents would be willing to pay in taxes (given the full amount), and explanatory variables were personality traits in the first model and facets in the second model. The findings suggest that the personality traits of conscientiousness (responsibility and/or productiveness) and honesty (modesty and/or greed avoidance), along with demographic factors, have a significant impact on the attitude towards paying more taxes.

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