Intangible nodes and networks of influence: The ethics of tax compliance in Australian small and medium-sized enterprises

This article draws from qualitative research to investigate key networks of influence in tax compliance decisions in Australian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It focuses on how SME interviewees manage and meet tax obligations through invoking the wider ethical and moral values placed on compliance evident in their advocacy of equal opportunity and equity in human resourcing, occupational health and safety measures and environmental reporting. Good corporate citizenship constitutes an important independent 'intangible' node within decision-making networks, framing relationships with influential external parties such as accountants. This discussion is limited by its inability to independently verify self-reported claims of compliance, or measure key indicators such as performance differences between compliant and non-compliant firms due to access restrictions on audit data. Nevertheless, it provides a window on perspectives, discourses and subjective understandings of the relationship between taxation and SME business management opening up new questions for future empirical research.