Tax Cheating: Illegal--But Is It Immoral?

Donald Morris

May 2012 · State University of New York Press

About this ebook

Silver Winner, ForeWord Book of the Year in the Political Science Category
Finalist for the 2013 Eric Hoffer Book Awards presented by Hopewell Publications

From unreported gambling winnings and inflated claims of the value of clothing donated to charity to money hidden in Swiss bank accounts and high-profile tax schemes plotted by celebrities and business leaders, the range of tax cheating opportunities is wide and the boundaries and moral status can be hazy. Considering the behavior of individuals and small businesses as well as the involvement of congress and the IRS, Donald Morris combines insights from law, psychology, sociology, criminology, accounting, economics, and philosophy to examine the ethical issues surrounding tax cheating and implications for tax policy.

About the author

Donald Morris is Associate Professor of Accounting at the University of Illinois Springfield. He is a CPA, Certified Fraud Examiner, and a former tax practitioner with eighteen years of experience, including ten years as owner of his own firm in the Chicago area. He is the coauthor (with Lois Ruffner Plank, Bryan R. Plank, and Christie Plank Ciraulo) of Accounting Desk Book: The Accountant's Everyday Instant Answer Book, 2011 Edition, and the author of Opportunity: Optimizing Life's Chances and Dewey and the Behavioristic Context of Ethics.