Fiscal Citizenship in Migrant Societies: An International Cross Country Comparison
Lead Research Organisation:
UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
Department Name: Finance and Accounting
Abstract
Taxation is necessary to the proper functioning of the modern welfare state and payment of taxes can be thought of as a unifying act that brings us together to further our collective goals. Taxes touch our lives in many ways and our willingness to contribute through paying taxes, understood in our project as "fiscal citizenship", is complicated. All countries have a tax culture i.e. social norms around paying taxes and 'tax morale' or how citizens feel about paying taxes. Our comparative project will address this important issue in a study that includes the impact of demographic change in the form of migration, on established taxpaying norms.
In the face of economic instability coupled with increasing migration, securing funds to support the welfare state is a pressing issue. However, our study is not only important for developing policies that support and encourage fiscal citizenship but will also shed light on the broader question of how political and institutional context shapes citizens' preferences and societal integration. Attitudes towards paying taxes also provide a window into wider aspects of modern society such as social norms, respect for authority, trust and cultural traditions.
It is surprising that we currently know little about the relationships between citizenship, migration and fiscal citizenship, which means that tax systems and collection policies may not be designed in the most efficient way. Over the last 3 - 4 decades, Canada, Germany and the UK have experienced a large influx of migrants from a wide range of other countries, each with their own tax culture. These changes in the make-up of our societies inevitably impact on fiscal citizenship. Newcomers bring with them experiences of their home countries and may not readily adapt to the new tax culture. This has implications not only for tax authorities trying to collect tax as best they can, but also for existing citizens who may experience a change in their own willingness to pay taxes.
The research team consists of a unique combination of researchers trained in accounting, anthropology, law and political science from Canada, Germany and the UK. Combining strong cultural, political and fiscal knowledge provides a unique vantage point for exploring the challenges of fostering fiscal citizenship among both citizens and migrants, touching as it does on both the social and technical aspects of contributing to society through payment of taxes. The research draws on several methodological traditions specifically experiments, legal and institutional analysis, surveys, and qualitative interviews in four interrelated studies organised across three work packages: analysis, investigation and integration.
We will seek the views of a wide range of participants through surveys and interviews in the our three countries to find out more about national fiscal citizenship to develop policy prescriptions to pave the way for improved fiscal citizenship. Raising public awareness of fiscal citizenship will help to make it more robust, for the benefit of wider society.
In the face of economic instability coupled with increasing migration, securing funds to support the welfare state is a pressing issue. However, our study is not only important for developing policies that support and encourage fiscal citizenship but will also shed light on the broader question of how political and institutional context shapes citizens' preferences and societal integration. Attitudes towards paying taxes also provide a window into wider aspects of modern society such as social norms, respect for authority, trust and cultural traditions.
It is surprising that we currently know little about the relationships between citizenship, migration and fiscal citizenship, which means that tax systems and collection policies may not be designed in the most efficient way. Over the last 3 - 4 decades, Canada, Germany and the UK have experienced a large influx of migrants from a wide range of other countries, each with their own tax culture. These changes in the make-up of our societies inevitably impact on fiscal citizenship. Newcomers bring with them experiences of their home countries and may not readily adapt to the new tax culture. This has implications not only for tax authorities trying to collect tax as best they can, but also for existing citizens who may experience a change in their own willingness to pay taxes.
The research team consists of a unique combination of researchers trained in accounting, anthropology, law and political science from Canada, Germany and the UK. Combining strong cultural, political and fiscal knowledge provides a unique vantage point for exploring the challenges of fostering fiscal citizenship among both citizens and migrants, touching as it does on both the social and technical aspects of contributing to society through payment of taxes. The research draws on several methodological traditions specifically experiments, legal and institutional analysis, surveys, and qualitative interviews in four interrelated studies organised across three work packages: analysis, investigation and integration.
We will seek the views of a wide range of participants through surveys and interviews in the our three countries to find out more about national fiscal citizenship to develop policy prescriptions to pave the way for improved fiscal citizenship. Raising public awareness of fiscal citizenship will help to make it more robust, for the benefit of wider society.
Organisations
Publications
Björklund Larsen L
(2022)
Fiscal Citizenship and Fiscal Belonging in the UK
Björklund Larsen L
(2023)
Tax Culture(s)
Mattaei E
(2022)
Migration, Trust and Tax Morale
Matthaei E
(2023)
Relative trust and tax morale
in Economic and Political Studies
Description | Berlin Workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
Results and Impact | In December 2021 the project team and associated researchers met at an internal hybrid (face to face and online) workshop in Berlin. The meeting was extremely productive in terms of team building and exploring synergies between the various research interests of our multidisiplinary team. It led to the development of new avenues of research as well as honing the specifics of several projects. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | HMRC Trust and Tax Administration work |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Discussion with HMRC about the scope of the project and potential overlap with work being done by HMRC in conjunction with OECD Forum on Tax Administration in the area of trust in tax administration. The meeting generated considerable interest in collaboration and follow up interactions include exchange of relevant materials and ideas. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Roundtables |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | We conducted 8 virtual roundtable events with knowledgeable professionals with migration backgrounds in order to establish initial data to help with scoping the project. Participants were from the UK, Germany and Canada and spanned a range of ages and migration backgrounds. The roundtables provided significant insights that have been extremely helpful in designing the project work. Additionally they allowed us to showcase the forthcoming work and elicit further participation. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Website development |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | Construction of the project website took place in 2021 and 2022 and it went live in early 2022. The website reports project participants and funding, outputs from the project and invites participation from interested parties from within and outside of academia. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
URL | https://fiscal-citizenship.com |
Description | Wurzburg Workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
Results and Impact | An internal hybrid workshop, held in May 2022 in Wurzburg, involving the project team and associated researchers. The meeting was extremely productive in terms of team building and exploring synergies between the various research interests of our multidisiplinary team. It led to the development of new avenues of research as well as further developing existing projects. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |